By MARK REY MONTEJO
When Alex Eala was pushed to the brink, she didn’t falter. She didn’t raise the white flag. Instead, she searched for strength—and found it in a rapturous sea of Filipino fans scattered throughout the venue.
Her thousands of ‘Kababayans’ served as a gentle anchor, a home in New York, keeping her steady to pull off a breakthrough win in the first round of the 2025 US Open.
And more fitting that the historic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11) win against 14th seed Danish Clara Tauson came in the wee hours of the National Heroes Day as if she was honoring the legacy and history of her heritage.
“It’s so special, they make me more and more special. To be [a] Filipino is something I take so much pride in,” said Eala moments after her historic triumph on American soil – again.
“And you know, I don’t have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open. I’m so grateful that they made me feel like I’m home,” she added.
At the expense of the WTA’s No. 14 Tauson, the world No. 75 Eala became the first Filipino to prevail in a Grand Slam main draw game in the Open era.
The come-from-behind victory also marked a stellar return for Eala who rested for a couple of weeks due to her shoulder injury, forcing her to beg off from a couple of tournaments before prestigious US joust..
The Olympic hopeful, however, admitted that her win over Tauson did not come easy as she needed to exert maximum effort to survive the emerging ace from Denmark.
“It was so, so difficult. [Clara is] a huge player, she’s a great player. Definitely not an easy draw for a first round, but I’m so happy that I was able to dig deep,” Eala continued.
She now awaits her next rival in the second round but she is hoping to push through. And she knows all she needs is to be ambitious.
“I was just thinking to push the limit physically, mentally…this was it.”
“Be ambitious,” stressed Eala. “I would say anything is possible and to dream big. I, as a person, am very ambitious.”And just like how she survived the first round,
she will be banking on the energy and the enthusiasm of the ever supportive Filipino crowd behind her back.
“And, although there was no one from my country who did this before was successful in tennis I took inspiration from anyone I could, from my family, my brother, so I think just to be ambitious and to dream big and know you can do it.”
