MANILA — Alexandra Eala returns to the US Open carrying her highest Grand Slam seeding yet and a chance to extend her breakthrough run on the same New York courts where she made Philippine tennis history.
The 21-year-old Filipina enters this year’s tournament as the No. 17 seed and will open her campaign against American qualifier Mary Stoiana, seeking to surpass her second-round finish in her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Flushing Meadows last year.
But New York represents more than another major tournament for Eala. The city has been part of her tennis journey since childhood, long before she emerged as one of the world’s leading players.
Eala first competed in New York in 2013 at just eight years old, joining her older brother Miko in the Little Mo International Tennis Grand Slam Championship.
She captured the tournament’s New York leg after also winning its opening competition in Colorado and later the final event in Florida.
“If I recall correctly, I played an eight-and-under tournament here in New York, I think at the old US Open site. And it was a Little Mo tournament,” Eala said during a pre-US Open press conference.
“And I remember that was the very first time we kind of snuck into the grass courts, and I hit with my brother for 15 minutes there.”
As Eala climbed through the junior ranks, Flushing Meadows became the stage for increasingly significant milestones.
She made her US Open junior debut in 2019 and reached the second round before advancing to the quarterfinals upon her return in 2021.
Her biggest breakthrough came in 2022 when she defeated Lucie Havlickova in the girls’ singles final to become the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam singles championship.
“It’s nice to revisit this place and experience it a little bit differently at different stages of my life,” Eala said.
Her progression continued last year when she made her US Open main-draw debut and reached the second round before bowing to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
Eala now returns to New York in a vastly different position — no longer merely trying to establish herself on the Grand Slam stage but carrying the expectations that come with being the tournament’s No. 17 seed.
Standing first in her way is Stoiana, with Eala aiming to advance beyond her previous best US Open main-draw finish and continue adding to a New York story that began when she was only eight years old.
For Eala, Flushing Meadows has witnessed nearly every stage of her development — from childhood competitor to junior Grand Slam champion and now one of the seeded contenders in the women’s draw./PN
