Connect with us

Sports

Alex Eala keeps celebration going with Filipino fans in Toronto

Published

on

Alex Eala Alexandra Eala 2026 vs Alycia Parks Round of 64 National Bank Open Toronto 2026 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 Philippines Filipino fans

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates her win against Alycia Parks of the United States during day four of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers at Sobeys Stadium on August 05, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP 

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala extended her title celebration from ruling the Mubadala DC Open in Washington to giving Filipino fans in Toronto a thrilling three-set victory to kick off her Canadian Open campaign.

Just days removed from winning her first WTA Tour title, Eala carried the momentum and fended off American Alycia Parks, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to the delight of a Filipino-dominated crowd at center court on Thursday morning (Philippine time).

Article continues after this advertisement
Advertisement

READ: Alex Eala, Filipino fans make rare Monday final one to remember

The first thing the Filipino tennis ace did after the grueling showdown was acknowledge her fellow Filipinos, who cheered her on throughout the match despite being reminded by the chair umpire several times to keep the noise down.

“Kamusta tayo ngayon, Toronto? I-wagayway niyo nga yung mga bandila niyo at patingin (How are you today, Toronto? Show me waving your flags). There are so many Filipinos in the crowd tonight, so many flags. Thank you!” said Eala shortly after the win.

Alex Eala Alexandra Eala 2026 vs Alycia Parks Round of 64 National Bank Open Toronto 2026 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 Philippines Filipino fansAlex Eala Alexandra Eala 2026 vs Alycia Parks Round of 64 National Bank Open Toronto 2026 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 Philippines Filipino fans

Philippines’ Alexandra Eala celebrates after defeating United States’ Alycia Parks in National Bank Open tennis action in Toronto on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Advertisement

The 21-year-old expressed her gratitude to Filipinos in the stands and those following her matches from the Philippines despite the time difference.

Article continues after this advertisement

“I am eternally grateful. I mean I just came off Washington so I really feel like this is a celebration,” she said.

“Alam niyo kababayan, linggo-linggo ko kayo nakikita, sinusuportahan ako, linggo-linggo ko nakikita kung gaano niyo kamahal ang kapwa niyong Pinoy. Kaya proud na proud ako maging Pinoy. Maraming salamat. Mahal ko kayong lahat.”

Advertisement

(I see you guys every week; I also see it every week how you love your fellow Filipinos. That’s what I’m so proud to be a Filipino. Thank you. I love you all.)

Article continues after this advertisement

“Thank you to everyone who is supporting tennis and creating atmospheres like this. It’s really the pleasure of my life to experience these things.”

Eala, now World No. 20, has been playing the best tennis of her career, reaching the Wimbledon Round of 16 before capturing her first WTA 500 title in Washington with a victory over World No. 3 Jessica Pegula.

Advertisement

The No. 25 seed, who received a first-round bye, next faces another American, Caty McNally, in the round of 32.



Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.


Your subscription has been successful.
Advertisement

Eala will also compete in doubles, reuniting with Venus Williams as a wild-card pair. They face Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato in the round of 32 on Friday.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

Viana, Bruno Guimaraes, Haaland – your Man City questions answered

Published

on

Manchester City moved onto Korea this week for the second part of their summer tour to Asia. Having spent a week in Hong Kong, the Blues play two matches in Seoul and were 3-1 winners over a K-League XI on Wednesday and face Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Away from the pitch, transfers continue to dominate the conversation. Both incomings and outgoings remain a possibility as we creep towards deadline day at the beginning of September.

There are plenty of questions to be answered on the transfer window and so much more, so we’ll be hosting a weekly Q&A session with our chief City writer Simon Bajkowski. This is your chance to get an answer on anything you want – simply pop your question here and Simon will pick them all up and wrap everything up in one place.

Take a look at the latest batch of answers, below.

Do you think this is Hugo Viana’s most important summer? He needs to get new midfield construction spot on. We have seen him operate for more than 1 window, while his talent spotting for Khusa, Vitor Reis has been spot on, he has missed mark on Nico G, Marmoush, Tijjani, (these all were heavy commitments as well). All I have read online (& heard on podcasts) is that he is more proactive than Txiki and might be less conservative in terms of deals signing but nothing beyond that. Ashu

We will start with transfers, and I think this is a very good question so thanks Ashu. Someone in football once said that you can only judge a manager after three transfer windows and I think the same applies to a sporting director. We are effectively approaching the end of Hugo Viana’s third transfer window so I think it will be fair to judge him at the end of it – even if the jury will remain out on players signed.

It’s also arguably the most important summer for him because Pep Guardiola has left. The Catalan loomed large over everybody and everything – one of Begiristain’s motifs used to be that as long as targets could play Guardiola could teach them the rest – but now that he has gone Viana’s role becomes more important. He has to get the recruitment right to give Maresca the best possible chance.

Advertisement

There is still plenty of time left over the next four weeks, but it is also fair to say that City haven’t made the progress that people at the club thought they would since the World Cup ended and that a lot still needs to be done.

It’s ******* hot. Are the players alright? Kim

Never mind the players, what about the journalists?! I did feel slightly happier to see the locals moaning about the heat and bringing fans to the game as they sweated profusely, but that was cancelled out by the amount of sweat coming out of me and the fact that I didn’t have a fan.

But enough about that, it’s going to be very difficult for them. Phil Foden said that they would likely have to play a slower tempo because of the heat and instead we saw them start quickly and then do nothing after getting knackered after 20 minutes. There is an open training session on Saturday that is supposed to last an hour on top of the match and Maresca seems firm on wanting to get proper sessions done but you just can’t in this heat.

Advertisement

Does Haaland have a chance to be the first captain? Kay

He does. Erling Haaland was one of the leaders last season and with Bernardo Silva having left and Rodri potentially following him out the door, that doesn’t leave many leaders left. Haaland could get the captaincy but I think it will still be too early – when he was first given it 18 months ago it was more a reflection of the long contract that he had signed rather than he was ready to step up.

Haaland did become more of a leader last season but the expectation is still that Ruben Dias will get it. Dias thought he might be the next captain after Kyle Walker left but Guardiola chose Bernardo Silva. With Silva now moved on, it would be a real surprise if Dias wasn’t given the nod this time.

If Rodri leaves and we replace him with Bouaddi, I think our squad will massively lack experience in the midfield. Why didn’t City go after Bruno G when we have been linked to him in other transfer windows? He would have been good because of his experience and quality. Chima

Advertisement

Bruno Guimaraes is certainly an interesting one. City have liked him for ages, but as far ago as two years ago he was seen as too old to be spending the kind of money that would be needed to sign him from Newcastle – you were not going to get much resale value, and that is even more true now.

The case could be made that the Premier League has changed in two years and that City are more in need of leaders and midfielders now than they were, and I think both points are valid – but it is still very understandable to see why they haven’t moved for him. Our colleagues in the north-east described the Guimaraes transfer as a world record fee for a midfielder in his age bracket, and City have always preferred to spend those sums on much younger players such as Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Can we expect major playtime from all academy players brought to Asia during friendlies? Will any World Cup players come join the crew during rest of the Asian Tour?Nick

First things first, there won’t be any more players joining up with the City squad. Anybody who reached the quarter-finals or later of the World Cup is only returning to Manchester next week when the touring party gets back, so there will be no Haaland or anyone else in Korea.

Advertisement

On to young players and while Maresca did include a lot of youngsters in the squad it was noticeable in the first friendly that he didn’t really use many of them – in the starting XI, there was only Stephen Mfuni in defence and Divin Mubama in attack. The lineup for the second friendly was even stronger, with only Mubama starting.

It feels like given Maresca really doesn’t have long to sort his plans for the new season he is trying to get together a team that can face Arsenal in the Community Shield and Bournemouth in the Premier League as quickly as possible. The backline is fairly sorted and several attacking spots as well, with others having the chance to play their way in; that doesn’t mean that youngsters can’t impress on tour but they’re not the immediate priority.

Will Vitor Reis be part of the first team this season or will he be loaned out again? Abdalla Elsir

I don’t want to cop out on this one but I think the jury is still out. He has been given pre-season to be assessed and Maresca has liked what he has seen, but at the same time he hasn’t started either of the first two friendlies and that would have been a real show of faith.

Advertisement

City are incredibly strong at centre-back with Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, Dias and Josko Gvardiol all ahead of Reis and arguably capable of starting for any team in the Premier League, so Reis is going to have to be patient and wait for his chances if he is to stay. He has the ambition to want to stay and take on that challenge, but at the end of the tour a decision will be made on whether that is best for him or if a loan to a club where he can play every week at a high level is in fact the best option

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Transfer news LIVE: Bruno Guimaraes nears Arsenal move, Liverpool target PSG duo, Vinicius Jr latest

Published

on

Arsenal believe Vinicius Jr will stay at Real Madrid

The Independent understands that Arsenal now feel it’s increasingly likely that Vinicus Jr stays at Real Madrid.

Real have significantly upped their new contract offer to the Brazilian star and it’s much closer to what the player wants.

The feeling on all sides is that he’s now far likelier to stay with Madrid than make the switch to the Premier League champions.

Advertisement
Vinicius Jr is likely to remain at Real Madrid after the Spanish side increased their contract offer
Vinicius Jr is likely to remain at Real Madrid after the Spanish side increased their contract offer (Getty Images)

Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer6 August 2026 08:30

What next for Arsenal in the market?

Mikel Arteta called for Arsenal to be “ambitious” in the transfer window and agreeing a fee Bruno Guimaraes, the captain of a Newcastle side who had already sold first-team stars Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali and lost their manager Eddie Howe, certainly ticks that box.

The fee of £75m is big, but the Gunners have done well to come away from Newcastle having spent much less than Manchester City did in signing Elliot Anderson (£116m), or indeed Tottenham Hotspur for signing Tonali (£100m). Of course, Guimaraes is slightly older in profile.

After missing out on the signing of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, Arsenal still want to sign an attacker who can instantly improve the first team this summer and a defender to act as cover for the injured William Saliba.

Advertisement

Arsenal’s blockbuster pursuit of Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr remains uncertain, and unlikely, even though the framework for personal terms has been agreed.

Mike Jones6 August 2026 08:21

Why Arsenal had to sign Bruno Guimaraes – and how he fits into Mikel Arteta’s midfield

Jamie Braidwood6 August 2026 08:14

Advertisement

Arsenal close in on Guimaraes with £75m fee agreed

Arsenal’s move for Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes is finally nearing completion.

The Gunners are confident of finally singing the 28-year-old midfielder, whose future has been the subject of frenzied speculation for weeks ever since it emerged that he had indicated that he wanted to leave Tyneside for the Emirates Stadium.

Guimaraes reported for duty at Newcastle’s pre-season training camp in La Manga in Spain on Monday, just hours after Newcastle rejected an opening bid from Arsenal.

Advertisement

It now appears that significant progress has been made with the Premier League champions closing in on a cut-price £75m deal which would see them finally capture a man they have long coveted.

Bruno Guimaraes is heading to Arsenal after a fee was agreed with Newcastle
Bruno Guimaraes is heading to Arsenal after a fee was agreed with Newcastle (PA)

Mike Jones6 August 2026 08:07

Good morning!

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s latest transfer news and gossip.

Newcastle officially have a new manager who will be keen to stop the exodus of players this summer while Arsenal continue to make shrewd signings as they aim to defend their Premier League title.

Advertisement

Liverpool are in the market for two PSG players and Man Utd are attempting to bring in defensive cover at left-back.

Let’s get stuck into it…

Mike Jones6 August 2026 08:03

Advertisement

The real reason Chelsea signed Jordan Henderson

Mike Jones6 August 2026 06:00

Man United Women appoint Eva Olid as new head coach after Marc Skinner exit

Manchester United Women have announced the appointment of Eva Olid as their new head coach on an initial two-year deal with the option of a further year.

Mike Jones6 August 2026 05:00

Advertisement

Vinicius Jr reveals what Jose Mourinho told him as he weighs up his future amid Arsenal links

Vinicius Jr has revealed that new Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho encouraged him to maintain his “happy” and “joyful” approach to football as the Brazil international navigates ongoing speculation about his future at the Bernabéu.

Mike Jones6 August 2026 04:00

Advertisement

Why is Mohamed Salah signing for Trabzonspor?

The Liverpool icon, who left Anfield as a free agent at the end of last season, has arrived in Turkey ahead of the move and has been pictured by the club wearing the team’s colours ahead of signing his contract on Thursday. He will wear the number 61 shirt at his new club.

Jamie Braidwood6 August 2026 03:00

Real Madrid legend implores ‘deceitful’ Gianni Infantino to resign as Fifa president

Luis Figo has implored Gianni Infantino to resign as pressure mounts on the much-criticised Fifa president following his foiled attempts to sell stakes in the World Cup.

Advertisement

Infantino was forced to abandon his plans – namely to sell stakes in the World Cup and other Fifa tournaments to private investors – after public uproar last week, with Uefa confirming a boycott of Fifa events if the plan was voted through.

Kieran Jackson6 August 2026 02:00

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

St Kilda Saints vs Carlton Blues Tips, Odds and Teams – AFL Round 22 2026

Published

on

Marvel Stadium will play host to Sunday’s
Round 22 AFL game between St Kilda Saints and
Carlton Blues. The game kicks off at 7:20 pm with Carlton Blues heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the St Kilda Saints vs.
Carlton Blues
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday August 9, 2026 at 7:20 pm

Where: Marvel Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Advertisement

St Kilda Saints vs Carlton Blues Odds

St Kilda Saints vs Carlton Blues Preview

St Kilda and Carlton will contest a pivotal battle for a top-10 position when they close Round 22 at Marvel Stadium on Sunday night. Carlton moved above the Saints after producing one of the season’s biggest upsets, defeating reigning premier Brisbane 154-78. The Blues had 16 individual goal-kickers, while Jagga Smith won the Robert Walls Medal after collecting 29 disposals and kicking two goals.

St Kilda also showed encouraging form despite falling 107-88 to second-placed Sydney. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Max Hall each kicked three goals, but former Blue Jack Silvagni’s availability is uncertain after he suffered a shoulder injury. The Saints comfortably won the teams’ Round 8 meeting by 39 points. With both clubs still fighting to extend their seasons, the return encounter shapes as one of the most consequential matches of the weekend.

First Goal Scorer

Advertisement

First Goal Scorer:

Brodie Kemp at $12.00.

Advertisement

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

Justin Herbert reveals family-first retirement plans with fiancée Madison Beer less than 1 year after whirlwind romance

Published

on

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert took a big step in his relationship with singer/songwriter Madison Beer. The couple announced their engagement on social media last month.

On Tuesday, Herbert appeared on “The Richer Lives” show. When asked about his dream retirement plan, the Chargers quarterback admitted to wanting a loving family and to create memories with them.

“My dream retirement would be to start a family,” Herbert said (Timestamp- 29:55). “To have a family a family that I get to take care of, look after and love and enjoy all my all of my hardwork with football and what it’s provided me.

“There’s gonna be a long life after football. And, I think I’m really looking forward to it. One day, being able to start a family.”

Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!

Advertisement
youtube-cover

Justin Herbert and Madison Beer were first spotted together when the quarterback was on her music set in August 2025. In October, the couple made headlines after the “Make You Mine” hitmaker kissed him ahead of their game against the Washington Commanders.

The couple made several public appearances over the past few months. Madison Beer announced her engagement to the Chargers quarterback with a post on Instagram. She shared several photos from the day of the proposal with the caption, “Meet my fiancé.”


ALSO READ: “4 INTs and dating Madison Beer gets you cred”: NFL fans react as “overrated” Justin Herbert ranks #39 on Top 100 Players of 2026

ALSO READ: Justin Herbert gets attacked by Dave Portnoy’s blog as fiancée Madison Beer packs on PDA with QB at Chargers training camp


Justin Herbert shares his thoughts on entering training camp with Madison Beer’s support

On Saturday, ex-NFL defensive end Isaac Rochell interviewed Justin Herbert. He asked the quarterback about the importance of Madison Beer’s presence in his life.

Advertisement

Herbert did not hesitate in giving Beer her flowers. He also expressed gratitude for finding “his person.”

“It’s hard to explain,” Herbert said. “It’s been so incredible, and she’s changed my life. It’s something I never thought was possible. It’s so awesome to find your person and be able to spend your life with them. I’m excited and just can’t wait. She’s the best.”

On Tuesday, a video of Herbert and Madison Beer cuddling during the Chargers’ training camp went viral on social media. However, fans were not impressed with their romance and criticized them for engaging in PDA.

The Chargers will play the Arizona Cardinals at home in their season opener on Sept. 13. Kickoff is at 4:25 p.m. ET. and will be broadcast on CBS.