Seoul is all set to host a high-profile tennis exhibition event in late December. The event, titled “The Six – The Christmas, Only in Seoul,” will be held from December 26-28. The six-player field features Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, and Jasmine Paolini. However, fans couldn’t help but point out the absence of Alexandra Eala.
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Eala, like Osaka, has developed a significant following across Asia, with particularly strong support from Filipino fans. So, some were left very surprised when her name wasn’t included in the lineup of the exhibition event. After all, her popularity has grown exponentially in the last few months, especially because of her performance in the US swing. It was here that she captured her first title of the season.
Eala clinched the title at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, defeating Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula along the way. Her Washington title also fueled enormous ticket demand in Toronto, prompting the National Bank Open to move her opening match to Centre Court after demand exceeded the 2,800-seat capacity of the Grandstand.
Even tickets for her first-round match at the US Open saw a sharp rise in secondary-market prices. Though Eala wasn’t able to perform at her best for the rest of the US swing, the Citi Open triumph helped her ranking improve to No. 18. The Filipina was knocked out of the third round at Flushing Meadows, suffering a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 defeat to Iva Jovic.
Now, with the Asian swing underway, Eala is set to begin her campaign at the Singapore Tennis Open. As the No. 3 seed, Eala has a first-round bye and will face the winner of Tatiana Prozorova and Sofia Costoulas in the second round. The Asian swing also includes WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan.
Still, fans had been hoping to see her in Seoul.
A fan claimed that the tournament couldn’t afford Eala. “I guess they couldn’t afford Eala,” a fan wrote on X.
Another fan suggested that Eala could have been included if the organizers had not spent so much on the other players. “They’ve already got the big names in tennis right now, so the budget is pretty tight. It’ll be harder to bring in a money making player like Alex,” a post on X read.
Another fan argued that Eala did not need to be part of the Seoul exhibition. “With her career achievements, Eala is not worthy to be a slave to Iga, not even mentioning participating in such exhibition with slam champions, no.1’s and Paolini.”
Finally, one fan speculated that Eala could be called upon if one of the six announced players withdraws. “Don’t worry somebody will pull out and of course who will be there! But for AE sake she needs to work on her conditioning and fitness during this off season. She’ll make more money.”
Coming back, while Eala will definitely be missed in the exhibition event in Seoul, it still promises to be quite a spectacle. With some of the best players on the circuit participating in the three-day event, it is expected to pull massive crowds in the Korean capital.
The idea behind the tournament was for it to be a women’s counterpart to the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event that is held in Riyadh every year and only features ATP players. The event was first introduced in 2024 and will be held from October 21-24 this year. It is set to feature a star-studded lineup once again, with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Alex de Minaur having signed up.