Alex Eala chases more history at US Open after thrilling first-round win

Dubai: Alex Eala has already made history, but she could raise the bar further if she wins her second-round match at the US Open. A bigger payday, more ranking points, and a richer legacy await the 20-year-old Filipina as she takes on Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, with Eala starting as a slight favourite.

Eala, ranked world No 71, will experience several firsts when she returns to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Wednesday night (9pm UAE). She will be competing in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, following early exits at the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.

First-round exits

Her opponent, 95th-ranked Bucsa, impressed at Wimbledon last year with straight-set wins over Romania’s Anca Todoni and 22nd seed Donna Vekic before narrowly losing to Argentina’s Solana Sierra in three sets. But Bucsa has struggled recently, falling in qualifiers at the WTA 500 Washington Open and suffering first-round exits at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati, and Monterrey.

The two players have met before. In 2021, at the $25,000 ITF Trophee de la Ville in Grenoble, France, a 15-year-old Eala came back from a set down to defeat the 23-year-old Bucsa, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(8). While that result offers some reassurance, Bucsa remains a proven competitor on hard courts, having won the WTA Open BLS de Limoges Challenger and three of her four ITF titles on the surface.

Gruelling battle

Eala’s first-round victory over No 14 seed Clara Tauson on Sunday was historic. Trailing 5-1 in the final set, Eala staged a thrilling comeback, saving five match points before prevailing 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11) in a gruelling 2-hour, 36-minute battle. With the win, she became the first player from the Philippines in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam main-draw match.

“To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in,” Eala said. “I don’t have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open, I’m so grateful that they made me feel like I’m home.”

The support was palpable. Flushing Meadows, home to the US Open, is near Little Manila in Queens, where a large Filipino community cheered her on, energising her comeback in the final set.

Eala has consistently made history in her young career. She trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain from age 13 and became one of tennis’ brightest prospects, winning the girls’ doubles titles at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open. In 2022, she became the first player from the Philippines to win a junior Grand Slam singles trophy at the US Open, an achievement that catapulted her to stardom and led to her gracing the cover of Vogue Philippines.

A breakthrough season

Earlier this year, Eala made her WTA breakthrough at the Miami Open. As a wild card, she defeated three Grand Slam champions en route to the semi-finals, becoming the first Filipina to reach that stage, the first to record a win over a top-10 player, and the first from her country to break into the world’s top 100.

Now, Eala has the chance to take another step forward. A win over Bucsa would mark her first appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam, further cementing her status as one of the brightest rising stars in Southeast Asian tennis. “It makes what I do bigger than myself,” she said. “It adds meaning to what I do.”