Rising Filipina tennis star Alex Eala has made history once again by winning her first-ever match at a Grand Slam tournament. In the first round of the US Open, the young athlete defeated 14th-seeded Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11).
With this win, Eala, 20, became the first Filipina to advance to the tournament’s second round. Earlier, she won the girls’ singles title at the US Open in 2022, but failed to get past the qualifiers in 2023 and 2024.
In her post-match interview — in front of the hundreds of Filipinos who supported her in New York—Eala declared, “I had to dig deep, mentally and physically. I’m just so happy to take this win.”
Highlights of the match
Tauson started dominating the match by holding her serve and taking a 1-0 lead. However, Eala eventually matched her game, making the score 1-1.
In the third game, Eala took the opportunity to break Tauson’s serve four times, but Tauson managed to control the match and lead 2-1. Despite this setback, Eala remained focused and held her serve to make the score 2-2.
Eala broke Tauson’s serve in the fifth game with great returns and strong shots. She then kept her lead at 4-2. Tauson did her best to close the gap, but Eala showed impressive commitment in every shot, leading with 5-3 and winning the first set at 6-3.
In the second set, Tauson came back stronger, winning it 6-2, which then led to the final set.
Tauson quickly took control of the third set and led 5-1. With support from the crowd, Eala did not give up and made an incredible comeback to tie it 5-5, then eventually took a 6-5 lead. Tauson pushed harder, so the match went for a tiebreaker. In the intense tiebreak, Eala won the fierce match with a score of 13-11.
13-11 in the match tiebreak!
Alexandra Eala is the first Filipina woman to record a singles win at a Grand Slam in the Open Era! 🇵🇭 pic.twitter.com/wU4v4qxKr7
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2025
On social media, netizens expressed their support for the Filipino tennis star. One netizen shared: “What an epic comeback! Mabuhay ka (Long Live), Alex! What a fighter!!”
A netizen also described Eala to have a “championship-calibre play”, and that she is “adorable and fierce as ever.”
Another netizen stated: “Alexandra Eala thrived on the Filipino support, lighting up the US Open stage!”
“On to the 2nd round… Vamos Alex!,” one more netizen remarked.
Alexandra Eala felt the 🇵🇭 support today at the US Open 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/jlFmsex4tZ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2025
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