Alex Eala Is Seeded 17th — A US Open Champion Played on a Smaller Court Than She Did

On Thursday, September 3, the US Open published its order of play for day five — and the schedule itself became the story. Alex Eala, the No. 17 seed, was assigned to Louis Armstrong Stadium for the second match in a row, while six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek played on the Grandstand, 2025 US Open runner-up Amanda Anisimova was also placed on the Grandstand, and former Australian Open champion Madison Keys was sent to Court 17. Fans called it disrespect. But US Open tournament director Eric Butorac had already explained the reasoning on camera before the tournament began, saying Eala's opening match "had to be on a major stadium" — and mentioning that he'd been watching the secondary ticket market, where her session had roughly doubled in price while no other venue at Flushing Meadows moved more than 25%. This video looks at what that decision actually reveals: how a Grand Slam order of play is built, why competitive ranking and commercial demand used to agree and no longer do, and what it means that the US Open chose demand and said so publicly. We also cover Eala's 6-1, 6-4 win over Oleksandra Oliynykova, her press conference response to the "special treatment" question, her third-round meeting with Iva Jovic, and the December event at the Philippine Arena that could break tennis's all-time attendance record.