August 23, 2025 | 12:00am
US Open debut set vs world No. 15
MANILA, Philippines — It’s all programs go for Alex Eala towards world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark in her much-awaited principal draw debut within the 2025 US Open firing off on Sunday in New York.
The 20-year-old Filipina ace arrived within the Large Apple yesterday and was welcomed by a bevy of Filipino followers able to cheer for her breakthrough bid on this 12 months’s last Grand Slam tourney.
Eala, WTA No. 70, had her first coaching on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Heart to brace for a tall order towards the 22-year-old Tauson within the first spherical after the discharge of the official draw yesterday.
A possible opponent for the Filipina within the second spherical is world No. 36 Cristina Bucsa of Spain.
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Additionally in Eala’s bracket are world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 4 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Mira Andreeva, No. 8 Jasmine Paolini, No. 10 Elena Rybakina and No. 35 Emma Raducanu. World No. 2 Iga Swiatek leads the underside half of the draw.
This can be Eala’s third straight tennis main principal draw stint however with no single win to indicate simply but after early exits within the French Open and Wimbledon.
She’s hoping to lastly rating it in New York albeit on the expense of an in-form Danish ace contemporary from a semifinal run within the 2025 Nationwide Financial institution Open in Canada.
It’s the identical event Eala participated in final month the place she absorbed a 6-3, 1-6, 2-6 meltdown towards former Grand Slam champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in Spherical 1.
Eala nursed a left shoulder damage within the stated tourney that additionally prompted her to drag out from the Cincinnati Open that might have been her last warm-up tourney for the US Open.
She has recovered since then and held camp on the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain, the place she graduated as scholar in 2023, earlier than flying to the US for her last build-up.
A former junior Grand Slam champion within the US Open, Eala is hoping to weave the identical magic in New York with further motivation after additionally having a candy homecoming within the Philippines final month.
Will probably be a return of types for Eala in the US after a magical semifinal run within the Miami Open final summer season that propelled her to the High 100 rankings and served as her eligibility ticket as direct entries in all Grand Slams and WTA 1000 tournaments.
