Big dream in big apple

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala has hit New York, looking to end the Grand Slam season with a bang as she makes her highly anticipated return to the US Open next week.

“I’m coming for you,” Eala posted on Instagram, her sights set on another magical run in the year’s final major from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, where she is poised for another milestone for Philippine tennis.

Eala, No. 20 in the official WTA rankings but tracking as high as No. 18 pending the official update after the ongoing WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open, is a cinch to become the first Filipina in history to earn a main-draw seeding at the US Open.

The 21-year-old already achieved the feat at Wimbledon, where she was seeded No. 29 and reached the Round of 16 – the farthest any Filipino player, male or female, has ever advanced to in a tennis major.

Now coming off a Round of 32 stint in Cincinnati, Eala is expected to be seeded even higher in New York as she looks to surpass her second-round finish last year, on top of a debut in mixed doubles with World No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.

Last year, Eala stunned then-World No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11), to become the first Filipina to win a main-draw match at the US Open before bowing to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the second round.

A solid run this year could propel her into the Top 15. A deep run to at least the semifinals would put her on the doorstep of the Top 10, while a title run would vault her into the elite of the elite.

With a 9-5 career record against Top 10 players, including seven wins this season alone, Eala has proven she can stand her ground against the sport’s titans.

But at the US Open, the goal is to do it consistently under the brightest lights and on the biggest stage, said her coach Joan Bosch of Spain.

“Alex is very good. The question of how good she can be, nobody knows. The question or the goal is how many years, how many matches and how many tournaments she will give her best, like she is now,” Bosch said on the Diary of a Professional Tennis Coach podcast ahead of the US Open.