August 24, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Filipina tennis star Alex Eala spent a day fine-tuning her sport as she ready for her most important draw debut Sunday (early Monday Manila time) within the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Eala, it appeared, has shaken off a current shoulder harm, and has every part found out – on paper.
The 20-year-old lefty shared an image of her throughout a lull in coaching in New York, sporting dark-colored spandex, smiling, her racket readily available. She labeled her submit as “Alex Eala’s US Open Pathway.”
Eala, having fun with the best 12 months in her professional profession following breakthrough stints within the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, had drawn up her first-round opponent, world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark, and, if profitable, so on.
World No. 36 Cristina Bucsa of Spain is her potential opponent within the second spherical, then world No. 31 Elise Mertens of Belgium within the third.
Then it will get harder if issues aren’t robust sufficient as a result of she’s taking a look at both world No. 1 and defending US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka or No. 33 Leylah Fernandez, whose mom is Filipino-Canadian, within the fourth spherical.
Additionally in her path are No. 8 Jasmine Paolini or No. 10 Elena Rybakina, No. 4 Jessica Pegula or No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, then if she goes that far, within the finals it might be any anybody amongst No. 6 Madison Keys, No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
Eala defeated Keys and Swiatek on this 12 months’s Miami Open.
However first issues first, Eala should get previous Tauson, whom she has by no means confronted earlier than.
In the meantime, it has been greater than a decade because the US Open had a repeat ladies’s champion – however Sabalenka heads into her title protection at Flushing Meadows aiming to buck that development.
“My thought is to alter that,” the Belarusian star mentioned Friday as she spoke to reporters on the Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle, the place the ultimate Grand Slam of the season begins on Sunday.
“However, wow, that’s insane, , how unpredictable ladies’s tennis is, proper? Ought to we modify it? Ought to we attempt at the very least to alter it?”
The final girl to win back-to-back US Open titles was Serena Williams, who received three in a row from 2012 by 2014.