Dubai: For Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala, success on the biggest stages of the sport comes down to two things — inspiration and community. The 20-year-old may have exited in the second round of the 2025 US Open, but her historic run in New York revealed what truly fuels her rise.
Eala admitted she never had a local idol to look up to when she first picked up a racket. Instead, she turned to an international star who defined an era. “I looked up a lot to Maria Sharapova. So when I was younger, I didn’t really understand what was kind of going on in the game. I like, you know, I liked that she was fiery. I like that she was aggressive. And, of course, she presents herself very well. I felt like, you know, she always had nice outfits. And, you know, so she inspired me a lot,” she had told Tennis Channel, which the Filipina posted ahead of the US Open.
The 20-year-old, who has been on a meteoric rise since defeating three Grand Slam champions in Miami, clinched her first Grand Slam win after staging a dramatic comeback against No. 14 seed Clara Tauson, overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the third set to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11) in a 2-hour-36-minute thriller.
Despite her historic first-round win, Eala’s 2025 US Open run ended in the second round on Aug. 27, 2025, against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa. Although Eala was favoured, ranked No. 71 compared to Bucsa’s No. 95, she fell in a competitive match, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.
