Tennis fans call WTA award ‘laughable’ after Alex Eala wins again ahead of Elena Rybakina

Alex Eala's immense popularity is now causing controversy after she received an award from the WTA.

Eala is one of the biggest stars in tennis right now, with the Filipina having a loyal fanbase across the globe at different tournaments.

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This fanbase has seen Eala win her first WTA title in Washington D.C., which enabled her to break into the top 20 for the first time during the North American hard court swing.

Following this success, Eala has been voted as the 'Star of the Hard Court Swing' ahead of US Open champion Elena Rybakina, and some tennis fans are not happy about this.

Tennis fans react after Alex Eala is named Star of the Hard Court Swing on the WTA Tour

The Star of the Swing Award was introduced at the start of the 2026 season, rewarding players for their performances during that particular section of the season.

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Previous winners of this award have been Rybakina, Karolina Muchova, Aryna Sabalenka, Maja Chwalinska and Eala, with the latter winning the award for her efforts during the grass court season.

Eala was also nominated for the US Open hard court swing, and with a huge 78% of the vote she won the award once again, ahead of Rybakina with 16% of the vote and Iga Swiatek with just 3%.

There has been a big reaction on social media to Eala receiving this award over world number one Rybakina in particular. Some of these tennis fans criticised this award announcement by pointing out that Eala has just lost to world number 180 Tatiana Prozorova in Singapore, despite this not being part of the North American hard court swing.

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One person said, "What is this ridiculous thing? Didn't she just lose a second round match in Singapore?"

Another wrote, "Laughable, Rybakina won the US Open."

The criticism continued, "Rybakina took a slam, she is the star."

"You've surely got to be kidding me…"

"A popularity contest and nothing more. Pathetic."

Others also pointed out their concerns that this amount of fan support and pressure could impact Eala negatively in the future.

"Sad for Alex.. This fan delusion will break her down mentally, the immense pressure she will carry will be too much to bear.. and they all don't care either."

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"Does Eala feel good seeing this? Tbh (To be honest) I'd feel intense imposter syndrome if I were in her place."

While there was a lot of criticism for Eala receiving this award over the likes of Rybakina, others stated that she won it fair and square and fans of other players just need to vote if they want their favourites to win.

"Obviously Rybakina was the real star but people didn't vote. You can't hate on the Filipino community for supporting their girl. Most of the people complaining in the comments didn't even vote."

"Just want to remind the haters out there. It's such a simple concept. Just vote. That's it."

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