Completes Lazarus-like comeback vs Tauson
THOUSANDS of miles away from her country, Alex Eala felt very much at home at the packed Grand Stand Court in her women’s singles US Open main draw debut at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, early yesterday morning (Sunday in the US).
Drawing strength and inspiration from the “hometown” crowd, Eala came back from the dead, rallying from a 1-5 deficit in the third set to stun world No. 14 Danish player Clara Tauson 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 (13-11), becoming the first Filipino player to win a Grand Slam main-draw match in the Open era.
The late Felicisimo Ampon was the first Filipino to win matches in the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open before the Open Era started in 1968, when the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open opened their competitions to professionals and amateurs for the first time.
In front of a predominantly and animated pro-Eala gallery at the same site of her historic US Open girls’ juniors crown in 2022, the feisty Eala, 20, completed the incredible comeback after a grueling two hours and 36 minutes of intense and riveting action.
With the pretty Pinay southpaw up 12-11 and serving for the match in the tiebreak of the third and deciding set, Tauson hit a long forehand down the line, sealing the deal. Eala fell on her knees and hands before rolling over with delight and disbelief over the epic win.
After shaking hands with Tauson, 22, at midcourt, the Filipina pranced around and pumped her fists, blowing kisses to the crowd with glee after her Lazarus-like resurrection.
Eala readily cited the crowd of 8,000 for contributing to her huge win at the post-match court interview.
“It is so special. They (the Filipino crowd) made me more and more special. Being a Filipino is something that I take so much pride in. And you know I don’t have a home tournament so to have this community here at the US Open. I am so grateful that they made me feel like I am home,” she said.
The popular netter also took her hat off to her fallen opponent, saying: “Oh my God, it was so, so difficult. I mean, she’s (Tauson’s) a huge player, a great player. Definitely not an easy draw in the first round.
“But I am so happy that I was able to dig deep to push the limit, like physically, mentally. This was it. This match is one for the books for me.”
While reveling in her achievement, Eala, who reached the Miami Open semifinals for her first major breakthrough on the women’s pro tour, vowed that it won’t be a one-and-done situation, insisting that “I am always in the mood for creating more history.”
She will have a day’s respite and will await the winner of the first-round match between Spaniard Cristina Bucsa and American Claire Liu for her opponent in the next round.
Eala was resilient enough to somehow survive the power-serving Dutchwoman, who fired 12 aces while she had none.
The turning point came in the seventh game of the third set with the Pinay lefty facing a daunting 1-5 challenge and early exit, digging her heels in at the baseline to reel off five straight games to gain the upper hand at 6-5.
“I had so much fun. Definitely hard to see that or to see the positives when, you know, you’re down 5-1, but that’s what I tried to do,” Eala said at the longer formal press conference. “I tried to see the positives, find solutions. And obviously, you know, with all these people backing me up, it’s hard not to stay in the moment and get their energy, yeah.”
Once she hit her stride in the tiebreak, Eala surged to an 8-4 lead only for Tauson to mount a comeback of her own, winning four points in a row to level the count at 8-all.
