Alex Eala sparks extraordinary US Open ticket price surge before first match

Demand surrounding the Filipina star has reached remarkable levels ahead of her first-round match against Mary Stoiana.

Alex Eala is set to begin her 2026 US Open campaign on Wednesday when she squares off with Mary Stoiana in the first round.

The Filipina tennis star has had an incredible rise across 2026, with her profile soaring over the summer after she won her first singles title in DC last month at the Washington Open.

In the following two WTA 1000 tournaments at the Canadian and Cincinnati Opens, she continued to perform, seeing her world ranking rise to a career-best No.18 ahead of the US Open.

These performances and the rise in her celebrity have brought about several sponsorship deals, as she continues to become one of the fastest-rising names in women’s tennis.

However, she now has the chance to win her first Grand Slam at the US Open, and fans wanting to watch Eala have been hit by an extraordinary ticket price surge before her first match.

According to TicketData Tracker founder Keith Slusser, the get-in price for Eala's session at Louis Armstrong Stadium doubled from under $200 to almost $400 after the US Open announced her first-round schedule and court designation on Sunday.

Slusser took to X, formerly Twitter, to share the impact surrounding Eala's match, with no other session in Flushing Meadows seeing an uptick of more than 25 per cent compared to the 100 per cent jump for the Filipina star.

Eala has been scheduled to play at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which has a capacity of around 14,000 and is one of the US Open's major show courts.

US Open tournament director Eric Butorac has since explained why organisers knew the 21-year-old needed to be placed in one of the tournament's biggest venues.

Speaking to Tennis Channel, he said: “We knew it had to be on a major stadium.

“We are fortunate to have her in the mix. We saw some of the crowd turned up there [at the Arthur Ashe Stadium] in Stars of the Open. I don't know if you guys caught any of that match but it was electric in there.

"She's so friendly to everyone behind the scenes. She wants to meet people, she wants to engage, she wants to do everything. I hope she doesn't lose that. It is so special.”