Eala makes history, bags US Open jrs crown

MANILA, Philippines — Under the gloomy skies of Flushing Meadows in Queens, a tennis princess has risen.

Alex Eala, the 17-year-old Filipina wunderkind, earned a place in history as she reigned supreme in the 2022 US Open junior championships early Sunday morning (Manila time) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for her first career singles Grand Slam crown.

Eala, the No. 10 seed, fashioned out a masterful 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 2 seed Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic and in the process took the throne as the first Filipina to win any junior singles Grand Slam.

The left-handed Rafael Nadal protégé needed only 68 minutes to dispatch the heavy favorite Havlickova, the world junior No. 3 and 2022 French Open juniors winner, to cap off a perfect US Open campaign.

Through six rounds of the elite 64-strong US Open draw, Eala did not yield a single set against a formidable cast of higher-ranked counterparts.

It was a tremendous juggernaut in her first junior tourney this season after focusing in the women’s professional circuit.

Serving for history, Eala’s dream run was realized with a crisp backhand right that Havlickova found a tough one to return as the crowd erupted to celebrate the Filipina victory.

“Buong puso ko itong ipinaglaban. Hindi lang para sa sarili ko kundi para makatulong din ako sa kinabukasan ng Philippine tennis. Hindi lang ito panalo ko, panalo natin itong lahat,” said a tearful Eala, dedicating her glory to the entire Filipino nation back home and around the world.

Hell-bent on ending a string of heartbreaks in the girls’ singles play, the two-time doubles Grand Slam holder Eala (2020 Australian Open, 2021 French Open) wiped out her opponents in the first five rounds spiked by a 6-1, 7-6(5) win over Canada’s Victoria Mboko to make the US Open finals.

That was already a milestone for Eala, a former world junior No. 2 and current WTA No. 297, as she became first player from the Philippines to barge into any junior singles Grand Slam finals.

Then she reached even greater heights and achieved greater glory.

Ranged against the 2022 French Open champ in a fight for all the marbles, Eala definitely saved her best for last and coasted to an easy first-set victory before launching a 3-0 finishing kick in the second frame to flip a 3-4 deficit for the US Open diadem.

It’s the fitting culmination in a relentless tennis major title hunt for Eala, whose previous best finish was a Final Four windup in 2020 Roland Garros.

She had a couple of misses last year with a quarterfinal placing in the US Open, a second-round exit in Wimbledon and a first-round stint in French Open.

Part of her preparations for this moment was a brief training with Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the 2021 Miami Open that served as Eala’s WTA debut.

A year later, both rose as US Open champions for the first time as Swiatek, now world No. 1, ruled the women’s tournament.