Alex Eala will step on one of tennis’ biggest and brightest stages at the US Open, a good six years after first making waves in the same venue during her junior career.
Alex Eala is set to make her debut in the main draw of the US Open for the first time in her professional career on Sunday (Manila time), as the Filipina faces off against world no. 15 Clara Tauson, hoping to nab her first career win in a Grand Slam main draw in New York City.
While the Eala's dream run in the Miami Open earlier this year sparked her entry into the WTA top 100, the US Open has actually provided plenty of significance in the 20-year-old's career.
From Eala's first grand slam action to a breakthrough Grand Slam singles crown as a junior, the Boroughs have a lot of significance in the Filipina’s tennis journey.
One Sports breaks down the moments in New York and beyond that have led to this moment in Eala’s career.
2019: Eala’s star begins to rise in New York
For most people outside of the Philippines, Alex Eala’s name only began to ring a bell when she turned heads in Miami, where she toppled tennis heavyweights such as Madison Keys, Iga Swiatek, and Jelena Ostapenko.
But for most of the Philippine tennis community, Eala began to turn heads six years ago when she became the first Filipino to qualify in a Grand Slam, albeit as a junior, since Jeson Patrombon in 2011.
There, Eala competed in the Girls’ Singles and Girls’ Doubles tournaments. She ended up making the second round in both events.
Eala then became the first Filipino to win a juniors Grand Slam in more than a decade, after ruling the Girls’ Doubles event in the 2020 Australian Open where she partnered with Indonesia’s Priska Nugroho.
She then made her professional debut in the ITF Tour in March 2020.
2022: Eala nabs breakthrough in The Boroughs
In the next couple of years since her professional debut, Eala had tiptoed the line between professional stints and junior tournaments.
When she headed into another US Open three years after her debut, the Rafa Nadal Academy scholar already had two Grand Slam titles to her name as a junior player — but none of them were in the singles tournament.
After winning the 2020 juniors crown in Australia with Nugroho, Eala followed it up with another doubles title the next year in Roland Garros.
Together with Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva, Eala won the juniors doubles tourney in the French Open on Independence Day in 2021. Still, there was much more that she wanted to achieve as a junior player, especially as she held a career-high ranking of ITF Juniors no. 2.
But 2022 proved to be Eala’s year at the juniors level in New York, as she nabbed her first — and only — Grand Slam Girls’ Singles crown. She faced Czechia’s Lucie Havlickova in the final and won in two sets.
Eala was seeded 10th in the tournament, where she was joined by the likes of Canada’s Victoria Mboko and world no. 5 Mirra Andreeva.
The then-17-year-old Filipina beat Andreeva in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-0.
Eala won the title without losing a set which helped her become the first player from the Philippines to win a junior Grand Slam.
She also became the first player from Southeast Asia to win a girls’ title in the major since Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia at the 2022 French Open, continuing to cement herself among the best players in the region.
2025: ?
Now, Eala faces another career crossroads in Flushing Meadows.
In her final Grand Slam of the year, Eala has the chance to finally get a win after two tries in Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Playing on her favorite surface, the 20-year-old faces a tough challenge against Tauson. But with more experience and a rejuvenated body after taking a few weeks off, Eala hopes that another US Open will serve as venue anew for her leap.
With the world now watching her every move since her rise to fame in Miami, the Filipina is aiming to make more history with more and more eyes on her.
For Eala, the “City That Never Sleeps” can slowly but surely become her avenue of dreams.