No matter what happened to Alex Eala in her first match at the Canadian Open, she was going to continue to make an impact either way. Some had complained she was getting too much attention until she won her first event. Andy Roddick was not one of those people.
The truth is, whether one likes a player who has yet to win a tournament getting a lot of buzz or not, Eala is good for the sport. Roddick said as much during a recent episode of Served, the excellent series he is the host of.
In addressing Eala's Citi Open victory against Jessica Pegula and what comes next, Roddick said, "She’s not scared to play the top players. There’s no doubt...Massive, massive props to her; she’s so much fun...Everyone in tennis should be cheering for her, right? And you [could] say, like, ‘don’t pick favourites, don’t cheer for her’, sure… I’m cheering for markets. If we could bring hundreds of millions of people because she’s playing, well, then I’m going to cheer for that because it’s better for tennis."
Andy Roddick has the correct approach about Alex Eala's popularity
Yeah, exactly. Root for her or against her, Alexandra Eala is likely bringing new fans to a sport that needs new fans, because, well...all sports need new fans. Otherwise, things get stale, and that means less advertising money, fewer younger players involved, and ultimately, less importance on tennis.
The last thing fans want is for pickleball to continue to rise. In terms of those who want true exercise and a real challenge, tennis is the way to go. It has been for more than a hundred years, and it should continue to be so.
Not that Eala won't participate in a fund-raising pickleball event one day, of course, but she will make her name by how well she succeeds at an actual sport. More importantly, she is likely going to bring a lot of youth from her native Philippines along for her journey. The country is home to 118 million people. Eala is going to make a lot of them newfound tennis followers, and thank goodness for it.
Just imagine if she were to make a run at the US Open, or actually win the major? That would change not just the landscape of the WTA Tour, but tennis overall. More fans translate to more players, and more players mean better competition. No negativity is involved in that fact.
As for Alex Eala, she does need to build a bit on her WTA 500 victory in Washington, DC. After the Canadian Open is the Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open lies beyond. With high-end success for Eala, the world of tennis will look very different before 2026 ends.
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