Alex Eala and Joao Fonseca, despite their youth and inexperience, are two of the biggest stars in tennis right now.
As such, they cannot be relegated to smaller courts, even if their ranking does not equate to the top billing.
The fact of the matter is, the Filipinos and Brazilians fill stadiums, with many tournaments making a fatal scheduling error that leaves hundreds forced to watch from outside the arena.
James Blake has insisted he will not repeat such mistakes at this year’s Miami Open.
James Blake reveals his plans for Alex Eala at the Miami Open
Speaking to Tennis Channel ahead of the Miami Open, where he is the tournament director, he was quizzed on what fans should expect following the conclusion of Indian Wells.
And, naturally, his handling of Alexandra Eala and Joao Fonseca’s fanbases was of paramount importance.
Asked if he plans to accommodate these young superstars with the bigger courts, Blake revealed: “Yes, harking back last year when I learned my lesson of Fonseca needs to be on stadium, and he will be, yes.
“And Eala, it’s been quite a thrill ride for her this last year as well.
“I feel like last year, this event, it was a little bit of a coming-out party where she had some great results coming from a wild card position as well. So I think the international interest in both of them is so high, and Miami being such a cultural melting pot with so much of the international flavour here.
“I think we’re going to need them to be on centre court because they have so many fans worldwide, and here it’s going to feel like home matches for both of them.”
This comes just after Eala pointed out the change she has noticed in tennis in the Philippines ever since her emergence onto the scene.
How many ranking points does Alex Eala have to defend at the Miami Open?
Eala heads to Miami as a completely changed player and person from the one who burst onto the scene last year.
After all, she was a relative unknown in 2025, only gaining entry into the event via a main draw wildcard. What an intelligent decision that turned out to be.
She stormed into the semi-finals against all the odds, catapulting her ranking and stature in just one week.
However, returning now, Eala faces a potential rankings drop, with plenty of points to defend.
She earned 390 points last year, and an early exit could see her drop out of the world’s top 50.