Tennis Insider Explains Why He’s ‘Really Worried’ About Alexandra Eala Ahead of US Open

Alexandra Eala has performed consistently since the grass swing, where she won a Challenger event in Birmingham, reached the semifinals of the Berlin Open, as well as the fourth round of Wimbledon (by beating Iga Swiatek). Her performance at SW19 made her the first Filipino to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Next, she made her debut at the Citi Open, only to wrap it up in her favor by upsetting home favorite Jessica Pegula. The victory made Eala the first Filipino to clinch a tour-level title.

Eala was overwhelmed with emotions when she won the WTA 500 title in Washington, but she got no time to celebrate because the Canadian Open had already gotten underway. In Toronto, she reached the fourth round and lost to Belinda Bencic.

At the press conference afterward, Eala said she was a bit “sad and tired“ and needed a day or two of rest before starting her campaign at the Cincinnati Open. And after Cincinnati, the 21-year-old will be playing at the US Open. The Tennis Channel’s Russ Thaler, on The Inside-In Tennis Podcast, said he is “really worried” about Eala and explained the reason behind it.

Even she is saying the emotions she’s feeling are so extreme right now that that affects you physically too, and I just think for tennis, because I’m trying to think big picture for tennis, right, tennis really needs Alex Eala to win a few matches in New York. She’s going to be on show courts. I could see Armstrong being her home court if she can get three rounds in and just have the madness happen in New York. But I worry that the gas tank emotionally and physically will be empty by the time she [gets there].

Eala is playing a huge role in the expansion of the fanbase. Thanks to the Filipino fans, she is not only selling tickets, but the clips of her matches and press conferences are garnering a lot of views (on many occasions more than the top 10 players).

Her pre-tournament press conference in Toronto has received more than 261k views, also the sixth most viewed video on Tennis Canada’s YouTube channel. Furthermore, the clip of her victory in Washington has been watched more than 1 million times.

Let’s not forget she’s going to be being pulled in about a thousand different directions when she gets to New York City for every sponsorship opportunity you could possibly think of. Alex is dealing with a lot. She’s wise beyond her years. She is obviously different, right? She’s made of different cloth than a lot, but she is she’s also human, and I’m rooting for her to be healthy through this whole thing.

Russ Thaler added

ALL ABOARD THE EALA EXPRESS 🔥

Alexandra Eala secures her first ever WTA Tour title!#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/uSpxYxWqO5

— wta (@WTA) August 3, 2026

Greg Rusedski is not worried about Alexandra Eala’s busy schedule

Greg Rusedski has backed Alexandra Eala to handle the pressure and expectations. He feels as Eala is young, she can recover quickly from physical fatigue that comes from playing non-stop tennis.

The speech to the crowd was electrifying. And all the people that came were just delighted to see her. And then backed it up again, beating McNally. The crowd’s going to be behind Eala. And I feel like physically she’s already in good shape. She’s strong mentally, and the mind and body go hand to hand.

Greg Rusedski said on the Off Court with Greg podcast

In Washington, Eala played the second final of her career. Last year at the Eastbourne International, she lost the title to Maya Joint.

In the ongoing WTA 1000 event in Montreal, Coco Gauff will be facing Elena Rybakina, while Iga Swiatek will face Elina Svitolina in the semifinals. Both Gauff and Swiatek are chasing their first title of the season.

Also read: Iga Swiatek Reveals Reason Behind Strong Performance in Toronto After Reaching Second Semifinal of 2026 Season