'I'm coming for you': Eala raring for US Open campaign

MANILA, Philippines -- Alex Eala has landed in New York, looking to end the Grand Slam season with a bang as she makes an anticipated return to the US Open next week.

“I’m coming for you,” Eala posted on Instagram with eyes set on another magical run in the year’s final major from August 30 to September 13 in Flushing Meadows, where she’s bound to etch another history for Philippine tennis.

Eala, No. 20 in the WTA official rankings but could very well climb to No. 18 according to live tracking pending the official update after the ongoing WTA1000 Cincinnati Open, is a cinch to become the first Filipina player to earn a US open main draw seeding in history.

The 21-year-old Filipina already did it in Wimbledon, getting the No. 29 seed and finishing in the Round of 16 for the farthest phase a Filipino player – man or woman – had ever reached in any tennis major.

In the US Open on the heels of her Round-of-32 exit in Cincinnati, Eala is expected to be seeded higher in a bid to surpass her first-round finish last year on top of a debut in the mixed doubles with world No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada starting this weekend.

Eala then stunned world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(13-11), to become the first Filipina match-winner before bowing to then World No. 95 Cristina Bucsa of Spain in Round 2.

A solid run could push Eala to Top 15 with a deep run at least until the semifinals would catapult her to the doorstep of the Top 10. A win all the way would put her inside the elite of the elite.

With a 9-5 overall career record against Top-10 players, including seven this season alone, Eala has proven that she has what it takes to stand her ground against the titans.

But come the US Open, the goal is to show it consistently under the brightest of lights and on the biggest of stages, according to 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,” he said on the Diary of Professional Tennis coach podcast ahead of the US Open.

“When she was in the Top 50, I felt she was far from the 20s. Now she is 20 and you see the Top 10 a lot closer. But it’s not a goal. The goal is always to be better than the year before, and if you do that, most probably your ranking will be almost the same or better.”