MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis sensation Alex Eala is living her childhood dreams.
Seeded No. 17 in the ongoing US Open, the 21-year-old Filipina secured a dominant first-round victory over Mary Stoiana in a match that was held at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, the tournament’s second-largest venue, to accommodate the fans who came to see her.
Eala’s dream is not only to win as many Grand Slam crowns as she can but also about "doing my best, working hard, and having fun,” she said.
Understanding that success comes with a price, Eala shows her poise and composure as she takes one step closer to winning her first Grand Slam title.
“I think with the success that I have been having this past year, and my improvement coming rapidly. I don’t know, it feels like yesterday that I have been dreaming to [play] in Armstrong, for example, or dreaming to play against a player that I have been dreaming to play against,” she said during the post-game interview.
She understood that, often, players who reached the peak of their careers experienced mental fatigue that is why Eala is more focused on enjoying herself rather than getting obsessed with winning.
“Let’s say, for example, a match like this morning, it’s the first game of being in a Slam, and I am coming in seeded; it’s different, since I have been doing well recently. But yeah, I think it would be such a shame if I didn’t do my best to enjoy,” she added.
“There are so many people showing love to me and to other players, you know I am playing in Armstrong, and you know there are times when you are dreaming when you are a kid, you don’t know if you could do it, you’re just like, ‘I can, I can.’ But to actually do it is a different thing.”
Eala’s rise is unstoppable as she reached a career-high ranking of No. 18 in the world and won her first-ever WTA Tour-level title at the 2026 Washington Open.
The highest-ranked Southeast Asian player in the WTA Tour also said that she wants to live in the moment.
“Now I am here, so it’s a big shame if I didn’t enjoy what I had,” she said.
Eala will next face Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round, and aims for a payback after losing to her in three sets at the Strasbourg Open in France last May.
The match is scheduled to begin at 12:40 a.m. on Friday, Manila time.
"It was a really good match. I mean, very intense and quite tight," said Eala of her first encounter against Oliynykova.
"I think looking back at that match, there are a lot of things that I could have done better and that I've been working on since then. It's been a couple of months, and I think I've developed a lot in those months.
Oliynykova made quick work of Reese Brantmeir in their first-round clash, 6-4, 6-5.
