Alexandra Eala's loud U.S. Open fans test tennis etiquette
Alexandra Eala’s Filipino fans tested tennis etiquette at the U.S. Open when a chair umpire asked the crowd to keep voices down. The No. 17 seed beat Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 and welcomed the roar, saying it “doesn’t get old.” Oleksandra oliynykova chatter aside, Eala’s supporters are the story.
Key Takeaways
- Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic warned Eala’s crowd to keep voices down during a long first-round point.
- The No. 17 seed beat Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 in a Louis Armstrong night session.
- Eala said Filipino support still surprises her and “doesn’t get old.”
- Jessica Pegula likened a partisan Washington final to a road game but praised the atmosphere.
- Secondary-market tickets spiked to about $400 after her night-session assignment.
Why did Alexandra Eala’s U.S. Open crowd get a warning?
During the fourth game of Eala’s first-round match in New York, a long rally drew rising gasps and cheers. When the Filipina star passed American Mary Stoiana, the point ended in a full roar.
Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic was not amused. “Please,” she warned the crowd. “Out of respect for both players, keep your voices down.”
Yahoo Sports reported the atmosphere was otherwise relatively muted because Eala led early and closed a 6-1, 6-2 win without much drama. Earlier, Gael Monfils — playing his last U.S. Open before retirement — had already fired up the night with acrobatic shots in a win over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Why are her Filipino fans testing tennis etiquette?
As Eala has risen toward fringe contention for the U.S. Open title, etiquette has become a topic around her matches. Yahoo Sports describes her as the first significant tennis player from the Philippines, drawing crowds largely new to the sport and not steeped in when to cheer and when to be quiet.
That following has created wild atmospheres at otherwise sleepy tournaments and left some opponents uncomfortable. After losing to Eala in a Washington, D.C., final earlier this summer, American Jessica Pegula said the partisan crowd felt like a road game.
“Even though it didn’t go my way, it was still a really great atmosphere,” Pegula said. “I’d rather play in an atmosphere like that than nobody [in the stands].”
Yahoo Sports has called Eala the biggest athlete to come out of the Philippines since Manny Pacquiao. The country of 114 million people has a huge diaspora, including roughly a quarter million Filipinos in the New York area.
The surge has meant massive viewership, huge sponsorship deals, and sold-out stops such as Toronto, which added a Filipino food stand this year. When the U.S. Open put her first round in the Louis Armstrong night session, secondary-market tickets spiked to around $400. Fans waved Filipino flags after points she won, a scene now spilling into celebrity breaking news.
Could the noise matter if Eala goes deeper?
Eala said she has gotten better at compartmentalizing. “But it doesn’t get old,” she said. “They [the Filipino fans] still surprise me.”
She added that once players find a groove, “the effect of external factors is less.” She did not need much help against Stoiana. Yahoo Sports noted that if she advances — toward, say, a potential fourth-round matchup against Coco Gauff — her crowd could matter more.
“This was my first time playing on one of the main stadiums here and it was very loud and especially when the roof is covered,” Eala said. Arriving as a seed after a strong American swing, she said, brought more confidence and more expectation. “I think I’ve been handling it well.”