Alex Eala draws ‘insane queue’ at Australian Open debut, but comes up short in opener
Alex Eala gave her army of Filipino fans plenty to cheer about as she made an impressive start to her main draw debut at the Australian Open, but she failed to kick on and suffered a three-set defeat to Alycia Parks.
Twelve months ago, Eala was ranked No 136 in the world and lost in the first round of qualifiers, forcing her to drop down a level to compete in the ITF Bengaluru Open where she also made an early exit.
But a few months later, the Filipina started her climb up the rankings with a historical run at the Miami Open and she beat Grand Slam winners Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to reach the quarter-final.
She continued her slaying of major champions as she stunned world No 2 and then five-time Slam winner Iga Swiatek before losing against Jessica Pegula in the last four.
Eala surged into the top 80 on the back of that result, becoming the first player from the Philippines to crack the top 100 in the rankings.
More history followed as she made her major debut at the French Open before becoming the first Filipina to win a main draw match at a major when she won her opener at the US Open before losing in the second round.
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Eala cracked the top 50 in November and earned a direct entry into the main draw at Melbourne Park.
And the Filipino community in Australia arrived in their droves for her opening match against Parks on Court 6, forming long queues before the start of the encounter with journalist Quentin Moynet writing: “Insane queue to access Court No. 6. The reason? The Philippine Alexandra Eala will play her first-round match of the Australian Open in a little while.”
And Eala delivered early on as she blew the former world No 40 away in the first set, breaking three times in the opening set to take it 6-0 with the Filipino fans going nuts for every point she won.
Queue hallucinante pour accéder au court n°6. La raison ? La Philippine Alexandra Eala y disputera tout à l’heure son premier tour de l’Open d’Australie. pic.twitter.com/98PLwYcWYM
— Quentin Moynet (@QuentinMoynet) January 19, 2026
But the American hit back with an early break in the second before the world No 49 squared things again in game five only for Parks to get a second break three games later to take it to a decider.
Parks got off to a flyer in the third with a break in the opening game and doubles up six games later. Although Eala saved two match points, the world No 99 got the job done at the third time of asking.
The American will return to the top 80 with the win with 19th seed Karolina Muchova up next.
Eala, who had a chance to crack the top 45 with a first-round win, is next set to be in action on the WTA Tour at the Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates from February 2-7.
But before that she will compete on the WTA Challenger Tour at her home event, the Philippine Women’s Open.
And journalist Ben Rothenberg wrote on X: “Eala is surely crushed, but the crowd is still cheering and chanting her name, and she’s stayed on court longer than most losers ever would to sign lots of autographs and such for her fans.”
