Alex Eala's Washington win sparks tennis boom in the Philippines
Alex Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour-level singles title in Washington DC on Monday, triggering widespread public interest in the sport across the country. President Ferdinand Marcos hosted a reception in her honour and publicly congratulated her on social media.
Marcos released a message on Tuesday congratulating Eala on “yet another historic achievement”, adding: “You continue to redefine what is possible for Philippine tennis and inspire countless young Filipinos to dream without limits.” Eala defeated top-ranked Jessica Pegula to claim the title, recovering from a deficit in a match that was interrupted by rain and finished over two days. Pegula said after the match: “This is the best Monday final crowd I’ve seen ... To all the Filipino fans that came out, and have supported, you guys are helping to grow tennis around the world, and I appreciate that. Being a female athlete, being in tennis, we love to see that growth.”
Signs in the stadium — including one reading “Alex you make us proud to be Filipino” — underlined visible support from travelling fans during the Washington tournament. Filipinos had already celebrated Eala’s performance at Wimbledon in July, where she progressed farther than any Filipino woman at a grand slam and beat the defending champion, Iga Swiatek, in straight sets on Centre Court.
Eala returned home to a hero’s welcome and was received at Malacanang Palace, an event reported by the state news agency. The win has produced an upsurge in public engagement with tennis in the Philippines, with local venues and public watch parties filling as supporters followed her matches overseas.
Tennis clubs and organisers report practical effects from the surge in interest: classes, camps and courts have been fully booked, some clubs are upgrading old courts, and there has been increased support for the tennis federation. Eala described the change at a press conference, saying: “Everyone comes up to me whenever I go back to Manila saying it’s so hard to get courts … that’s a good thing because when I was younger the courts were empty, nobody was playing.”
Public enthusiasm has contrasted with the Philippines’ traditional sporting priorities, long centred on basketball, billiards and boxing, and has produced late-night watch parties and packed viewing venues. Former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao praised Eala on social media as “our new champion”, lauding her Washington comeback for showing the “Filipino heart”. Washington’s tournament director Mark Ein said interest had been unusually high, reporting that “over the last month the ticketing team says at least 80%, if not more, of the requests in this tournament are about when is Alex Eala playing?”
The article notes broader structural barriers to tennis in the Philippines: the sport has been concentrated among the wealthy and the country lacks the development infrastructure seen in nations such as the United States, Great Britain and France. Eala, who comes from a prominent family, began playing on painted-over basketball courts in Quezon City before moving to Spain to attend the Rafa Nadal Academy on a scholarship at age 13; she has urged improvements to access, equipment and the condition of public courts.
Speaking at the palace reception, Eala told officials and supporters, “I’m so grateful that I am able to share my triumphs … with the country,” and added, “As we say, tagumpay nating lahat (this is our victory).”