Manila, Philippines, August 26, 2025: The Philippine Olympic Committee has congratulated Alex Eala for becoming the first Filipino tennis player to win a Grand Slam match.
Eala, bronze medallist at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, created history on Sunday, August 24, when she defeated 14th seed Clara Tauson in the first round of the women’s singles at the 2025 US Open.
The 20-year-old Eala came back from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat Denmark’s Tauson in a dramatic tiebreak 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) in front of a majority Filipino crowd at a jam-packed Grandstand court at Flushing Meadows in New York.
“It’s so special,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “They make me more and more special. To be Filipino, it’s something I take so much pride in. I don’t have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open. I’m so grateful that they made me feel like I’m home.”
The Philippine Olympic Committee, congratulating her, posted: “Mabuhay ka, Alex Eala! Mabuhay ang atelang Pilipino.”
Eala, the first Filipino woman to break into the world’s top 100 – she is currently world number 75 – will meet Spanish world number 95 Cristina Bucsa in the second round.
