'Over the moon': Filipino Eala bags historic first at US Open / Photo: Kena Betancur - AFP
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'Over the moon': Filipino Eala bags historic first at US Open
Alexandra Eala produced a jaw-dropping late comeback to carve out a piece of tennis history at the US Open on Sunday, becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match with a first round upset of Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson.
The 20-year-old from Quezon City recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the deciding set to score a thrilling 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13/11) triumph.
"I'm super over the moon with what I was able to do today, especially coming back in the third," Eala said. "It's a very special win for me."
Eala's breakthrough comes at the end of a season where she had already served notice of her talent.
She took down Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world number one Iga Swiatek during a giant-killing run to the semi-finals of the Miami Open in March.
But Sunday's triumph on the Grandstand court at Flushing Meadows catapulted the youngster -- who won the US Open girls title in 2022 -- into the history books.
"I'm so blessed to be the first to do this," Eala said. "I take so much pride in representing my country. It makes what I do bigger than myself, and it adds meaning to what I do."
Eala collapsed to the court after her victory, later revealing that past experiences had helped her dig deep to clinch the tiebreak.
"I was just so over the moon, and it was just such a rush of emotions," she said.
"I think so many factors made the match so special. I've been on the losing side of these tight tiebreaks before, so to be on the winning side, it's very memorable."
Eala said she plans to take the same never-say-die mentality into the remainder of the tournament.
"The key for my upcoming match is just to come in with the same mentality, same fight," she said. "Right now I'm just focused on recovering."
Eala's win came on the same day that another player from Southeast Asia, Indonesia's Janice Tjen, scored another upset to send 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova crashing out.
"I'm so happy to see the progress of tennis in Southeast Asia in general," Eala said. "I've known (Janice) for a long time, so I'm happy for her. I'm happy that players from this region are coming up and starting to be successful.
"I'm so happy for her, and it's nice to see someone that you grew up with on the biggest stages in the world."
P.Mathewson--AMWN
