Alex Eala Is One Reason US Open Tickets Cost More This Year, Reports Say

Alex Eala has yet to step onto the court for her first US Open singles match, but she’s already making waves in New York.

The Filipina tennis star is among the major names contributing to increased demand for this year’s tournament, according to analysts. After her first-round schedule was announced over the weekend, ticket data also showed a sharp increase in demand for the session featuring her match.

Alex will make her US Open debut against American qualifier Mary Stoiana on Sept. 1 (New York time), at Louis Armstrong Stadium. According to sports publication Heavy, resale prices for the session jumped shortly after the schedule was announced. TicketData founder Keith Slusser reported that the cheapest available resale tickets were below $200 before the announcement, then rose to around $400 within roughly 12 hours.

The bigger picture is that tickets for this year’s US Open are already commanding higher prices. Yahoo Sports reported that the average sold ticket price has climbed in recent years, with Louis Armstrong Stadium seeing one of the biggest year-over-year increases.

Michael Stock, GameTime’s director of pricing and business strategy, told Yahoo Sports that this year’s ticket increases reflect the appeal of several major names, including Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alex.

Alex’s own ability to draw a crowd, meanwhile, has been building throughout the season. Heavy also highlighted the strong Filipino turnout during Alex’s run at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where she won her first WTA Tour singles title. Tournament chairman Mark Ein said roughly 80 percent of the tournament’s ticket inquiries during that stretch were related to Alex. In Toronto, her opening match at the National Bank Open was moved to a larger court after demand grew. Tournament director Karl Hale estimated that the expected crowd had increased from around 1,000 to more than 5,000, and the match eventually sold out.

The US Open appears to have taken note as well. Alex’s first-round match was placed in Louis Armstrong Stadium, one of the tournament’s two largest courts.

Tournament director Eric Butorac said organizers knew her debut belonged in a major stadium, particularly after seeing the response to her Fan Week exhibition against Iva Jovic.

“We knew it had to be in a major stadium,” Eric said. “We thought that’s a great place to start.”

“I’ve already kind of monitored some of the secondary pricing, and that session is blowing up," he continued. “It’s amazing to see. I can’t wait to have her out there late at night and see all the Filipino crowd behind her. It’s going to be really special.”

Alex’s first-round match against Mary Stoiana is scheduled for Tuesday, September 1, at Louis Armstrong Stadium, with the night session beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Their match is expected to begin at around 8:40 a.m. PHT on Wednesday, September 2.