Alex Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam seniors’ singles’ match in the Open era after outlasting World No. 14 Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11) in the first round of the US Open early Monday morning (Manila time) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds in Queens, New York.
With the match tied at one set apiece, Eala won the first game of the third frame, but Tauson later on ran away as she continued to flex her muscles with strong service and returning games to go up 5-1.
And with her back against the wall, the Rafa Nadal Academy graduate slowly chipped the lead away as the crowd showered her with “Let’s go Alex!” chants.
With momentum on the side of Eala and Tauson clearly frustrated, the former overtook the latter, 6-5, after holding her serve in the 11th game.
Tauson, though, forced the tiebreak despite Eala holding a match point.
And, in the race-to-10 tiebreak, the Filipina broke a 4-all deadlock to an 8-4 lead.
The pride of Denmark, though, would close the gap and tie things up at 8.
But Eala would find the line to get the upper hand, 9-8, before her return kissed the middle of the net to extend the tiebreak.
The two tennisters, however, traded successful returns against each other before Eala got the upper hand, 12-11.
And the win was finally bagged after Tauson’s return went out, 13-11, as the Filipina laid down on the floor with the audience cheering their hearts out.
“Oh my God. It was so so difficult. I mean, she’s a huge player, she’s a great player and definitely not an easy draw in the first round,” she said at the post-match interview.
“I was just thinking to push the limit, physically, mentally, this was it,” she added.
Eala is thus assured of a purse of $154,000 (approximately P8.7 million), for reaching the round of 64.
This year’s US open has the largest prize-money purse in tennis history, as it reached $90 million -- or more than P5 billion -- in total player compensation.
After Eala tallied the huge 6-3 win in the first set, where Tauson had to go to the umpire a number of times to complain about the crowd, the 22-year-old from Copenhagen showcased her mastery in the second set.
After the Asian Games double-bronze medalist tied things up at 1-1, the Danish tennister won the next two games, before the Filipina snapped the streak, 2-3.
But Tauson’s brilliant service game was too much to handle as she swept the rest of the second frame to force the deciding set.
Tauson punched in 12 aces, but Eala won 49 receiving points. The former also committed eight more unforced errors compared to the latter.
The 20-year-old pride of Quezon City will now head into the next round of the Grand Slam tournament and will face either Spain’s Cristina Bucsa or hometown bet Claire Liu in the next round.
