By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, August 24, 2025
NEW YORK—Philippine flags were waving and Alexandra Eala was flying.
The 20-year-old Eala turned Grandstand Court into a homecoming bash gutting out am exhilarating 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11) upset of 14th-seeded Clara Tauson in an electrifying US Open opening-round win.
Three years after she shot to success winning the US Open junior crown, a dynamic Eala made history again as the first Filipino player to win a Grand Slam main-draw match in the Open Era.
“I’m so blessed to be the first to do this,” Eala said. “Like I said, I take so much pride in representing my
country. It makes what I do bigger than myself, and it gives — it adds meaning to what I do.”
On her fifth match point, Eala straddled the baseline refusing to give up ground.
When Tauson’s final forehand missed the mark, Eala tossed her racquet aside and crashed to the court as a packed Grandstand erupted in a collective supportive scream after two hours, 36 minutes of dizzying drama.
Fans ringing the very top of the stadium were hanging over the handrails saluting the woman who made history as the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam crown at the 2022 US Open.
“It means a lot. I think you could see by my reaction. I think everything just made it so
special from who I was playing, a really good player, first round, the first main draw US Open, coming back from an injury,” Eala said. “And obviously all of the people who watched today,
the crowd was amazing.
“I think everything in general just made the atmosphere so, so exciting, but at the same time, so tense. That’s also part of why I’m so happy.”
Eala, who had not won a match since she scored six straight wins playing through qualifying to reach the Eastbourne final on grass in June, arose from the court and tried to throw her visor to celebratory fans as a gratitude gift.
A sweat-soaked Eala so weary, it didn’t even reach the front row before Eala trotted over to her support box and embraced her team in a group hug.
In the front row right behind Eala’s court-side seat, a man with a shaved head wearing a Philippines soccer jersey waving a Philippines flag danced up and down in the aisles as if auditioning for the Radio City Rockettes.
In the words of the legendary Jimmy Connors: “This is what they wanted, this is what they came for.”
It was a wild clash that saw Tauson win five games in a row to go up 5-1 in the decider before Eala answered with a five-game surge of her own.
As the set escalated tension tightened, including a VAR controversy with Tauson arguing Eala crossed the net for a volley late in the third set. Eala survived some service games despite serving sub 75 mph serves and the pro-Eala crowd chanting “Lets Go Alex! Let’s Go!” repeatedly.
“I had so much fun. Definitely hard to see that or to see the positives when, you know,
you’re down 5-1, but that’s what I tried to do,” Eala said. “I tried to see the positives, find solutions. And obviously, you know, with all these people backing me up, it’s hard not to stay in the moment and get their energy, yeah.”
Exuding energy and defiance, the left-handed Eala roared back from a 1-5 third-set deficit, breaking one of the game’s biggest servers when Tauson served for the second round at 5-4.
At 15-30, Tauson drilled a high pass. Eala, holding her ground at net, blocked a volley. The Dane argued to chair umpire Kader Nouni that Eala reached over net. Examining the video review, Nouni ruled that Eala’s Babolat did not cross the plane of the net, giving the Filipina double break point at 15-40.
A disconsolate Tauson hit her sixth double fault into the middle of the net to drop serve to fall to 5-all.
Though Eala opened the 11th game with a double fault, she regained her rhythm, hitting a sharp angle to hold for 6-5.
The lost lead and loud crowd preyed on Tauson’s head as she opened the 12th game with a double fault. Facing the first match point at 30-40, Tauson showed guts cracking a backhand down the line on the 10th shot to save it.
Sliding a serve down the T, Tauson stopped her five-game slide to force the decisive 10-point tiebreaker.
At one point, an ambulance siren blared from the nearby Grand Central Parkway, an audible signal of heart-racing drama.
Deadlocked at 4-all in the breaker, Eala unleashed some of her boldest shotmaking of the match. Sending a second serve off the line followed by a slick forehand drop shot winner, a backhand down the line and a brillaint backhand that scarred the sideline, Eala surged ahead 8-4.
Still, Tauson was not done.
The 14th-seeded Dane drilled a forehand drive volley off the sideline leveling at 8-all.
Eala raised the shotmaking stakes again flashing a forehand winner for a second match point.
That’s when matters careened into crazy territory as Eala twice hit the line then drove a shot that hit the very top of the tape and popped up in the air before crawling back on her side of the court.
Tauson saved a third match point with a backhand off the line.
The world No. 15 denied a fourth match point ending an eight-shot rally inducing a netted drive for 11-11.
The Eala flat two-handed backhand was one of her biggest weapon on the day. She whipped one more backhand strike crosscourt for a fifth match point at 12-11. On her fifth match point, Eala forced the final errant forehand and erupted in a deep show of emotion.
Eala, who is in the top quarter of the draw with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, will play either American qualifier Claire Liu or Spaniard Cristina Bucsa in round two.
