FILIPINA tennis ace Alex Eala will be up against a familiar foe in Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the second round today (Wednesday morning in Manila) of the 145th US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Fresh from her exhilarating 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) come-from-behind upset of World No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark two days ago, Eala, now ranked No. 75 in the world, will be in high spirits when she takes on the Moldovan-born Bucsa (No. 95) for a place in the round of 32.
This will be the second time the two will meet, with Eala having won a close 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 decision over the 27-year-old doubles specialist four years ago in an ITF meet in France.
A gaming website gave the pretty Pinay a 55 percent chance of winning the second-round clash based on “the simulated outcome of Wednesday’s Bucsa-Eala match 10,000 times,” said Dimers data analyst Greg Butyn.
Trust Eala not to take her veteran rival lightly as she aims to go deep in the competition at the same arena where she won the US Open girls singles crown four years ago.
“I am always in the mood for creating more history,” said Eala, who became the first Filipino in the Open era to chalk up a victory in a Grand Slam tournament.
Given her Roman Catholic background, Eala revealed she always prays while playing the big points in any tournament versus any opponent.
“If I won the point with our Father, I’d say Our Father,” said the popular sports star in an interview with the Tennis Channel’s Jon Wortheim, a Sports Illustrated writer specializing in tennis, in a story written by Steve Signor posted on the tennis.com website after her first-round match.
“If I won the point with Hail Mary, I’d say Hail Mary. If I lost the point, I’d switch to a different prayer,” she explained.
Her comeback win over Tauson was nothing short of miraculous after being down 1-5 in the third and final set, which saw the predominantly Filipino crowd willing and rallying her to victory with their loud and animated support.
“So what did Eala say to herself when she was down 1-5 in the third? Was it an Our Father or a Hail Mary? What we do know is that, on the outside, she appealed to a different higher power: her fans,” the report said.
“Definitely hard to see the positives when, you know, you’re down 5-1, but that’s what I tried to do,” Eala said. “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.”
Indeed, she will need to draw anew from the all-out support of the bustling and tennis-loving Filipino community in the Big Apple to continue creating history against Bucsa.
