Alexandra Eala has put the whole Tour on notice with her recent performances. After picking up her form during the grass swing, she has made a sensational start to the hard-court season by triumphing at the DC Open. Unsurprisingly, this run of form has led to her gaining a ton of fans, and they are making their presence felt in Toronto, where Eala’s matches seem to be the hottest ticket in town.

Notably, Eala’s opening match at the Canadian Open against Alycia Parks was originally set to be played at the Grandstand, which has an estimated capacity of 2,800. But the clash has been shifted to the Centre Court after ticket demand exceeded the venue’s capacity. This development was confirmed by tournament director Karl Hale.

“Our Grandstand court is 2,800 seats,” Hale told The Tennis Channel, via Gill Gross. “We can’t put her on there because she probably sold upwards of 5,000 tickets.”

This just shows how big of a fan-favorite Eala has become. Her upcoming clash will be played during the night session on Wednesday and is expected to be sold out. Interestingly, even though local favorite Leylah Fernandez is also scheduled to play during the same session, the hype is all around Eala only.

Fans want to see her not just because she knows how to deliver a brilliant performance, but also because of her likeable personality. The Filipina has been on a roll ever since she triumphed at the Birmingham Classic, defeating Nikola Bartunkova in the final.

Eala then had an impressive run to the semifinals in the Berlin Open. It was this tournament that boosted her confidence massively as she racked up wins over both Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina. Then came Wimbledon, where Eala stunned many by defeating defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6, 6-2 in the third round.

Though Eala wasn’t able to go too far in the Grand Slam and was eliminated in the fourth round by Jasmine Paolini, the effort that she put in during the tournament was commendable, to say the least. She then continued this form at the DC Open, racking up wins over Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka in straight sets on her way to the final.

Her biggest test of the tournament came in the final match against Jessica Pegula. After losing the first set, Eala was leading 2-1 in the second when relentless rain suspended the play. The match was shifted to the next day, where the 21-year-old proved to be the much better player and allowed Pegula to win just three games. She bagelled the American in the decider to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 and clinch her maiden tour-level title.

Eala will now be aiming to maintain this form in Toronto. But unlike the DC Open, she will have to focus on two draws simultaneously on this occasion. This is because she is also participating in the doubles draw.

Alexandra Eala will play doubles alongside Venus Williams at the Canadian Open

Eala and Venus will be reuniting as a doubles pair for the Canadian Open. The two are scheduled to lock horns against Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato in the first round, which will be played on Thursday.

Notably, the two had previously teamed up at the Bad Homburg Open, and their partnership had looked good on grass. Eala and Venus had recorded a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alexandra Osbourne and Catherine Harrison in the first round.

But the two weren’t able to go far and were eliminated in the second round after suffering a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova. Interestingly, the two had initially formed a doubles partnership for the DC Open as well, but unexpectedly split right before the tournament. In the end, Eala only participated in the singles event, and Venus formed a pair with Diana Shnaider for the doubles draw.

Notably, both Eala and Venus have been pretty active in doubles tennis this season, but Eala has to balance both singles and doubles matches at once. Unlike Eala, Venus’ singles campaign at the Canadian Open has already come to an end as she suffered a 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Kamilla Rakhimova in the Round of 128.