CHALK up another milestone for Filipina tennis star Alex Eala, who was penciled in the main draw of the 145th US Open Tennis Championships from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The Women’s Tennis Association announced yesterday on its website that the world’s top 99 players, including No. 56 Eala, will see action in the fourth and final Grand Slam of tennis.
“World No. 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (of Belarus) leads the main-draw entry list for the 2025 US Open, which was released on Tuesday (yesterday in Manila,” the WTA website reported.
“All of the world’s Top 70 players in the current PIF WTA Rankings can be found in the jam-packed entry list, as the top players on the Hologic WTA Tour will head into Flushing Meadows for the year’s final Grand Slam event,” it added.
“Main-draw play at the USTA Billie Jean National Tennis Center kicks off on Sunday, Aug. 24.
“The last direct entry into the main draw is World No. 99 Mayar Sherif (of Egypt).
All told, 98 of the world’s top 99 players are on the main-draw entry list. The only player in the Top 99 who is not on the main-draw entry list is 2022 US Open runner-up Ons Jabeur (of Tunisia), currently ranked No. 71,” the report said.
The report said among the former US Open women’s singles champions in the main draw besides Sabalenka are American Coco Gauff (world No. 2), newly-crowned Wimbledon queen Iga Swiatek of Poland (No. 3), Englishwoman Emma Raducanu (No. 45) and Japan’s Naomi Osaka (No. 49).
“The field includes 18 total former Grand Slam singles champions, including 10 former US Open champions,” the US Open official website reported.
“The United States leads all nations with 30 players (16 women and 14 men) earning direct entry into the tournament. Along with No. 8 Keys, the American women are led by No. 2 Gauff, No. 4 Jessica Pegula and No. 7 Amanda Anisimova—who’s debuting in the Top 10 after her Wimbledon runner-up finish,” it said.
Her appearance in the US Open should be a memorable and historical moment for Eala, 20, who will be the first Filipino tennis player to compete in the championships in 70 years since the late Raymundo Deyro saw action in the 1955 edition.
The tournament was also the occasion for one of her outstanding accomplishments as a junior player, winning the women’s singles juniors crown in the 2022 US Open juniors, beating Russian Mira Andreeva, now world No. 5, in the finals 6-4, 6-0.
