Hard courts feel like home as Alex Eala eyes another US Open breakthrough

Alex Eala learned to play tennis on basketball courts and concrete surfaces in the Philippines, where the sport has long taken a back seat to basketball and volleyball.

It is no surprise, then, that hard courts have become her comfort zone.

As Eala prepares for the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam, she returns to the surface that has produced many of the biggest moments of her career.

"I prefer the hard court," Eala said in an interview with Talking Tennis.

"It's the one I grew up on. And I think my game naturally is more suited to that."

For the many Filipino tennis fans who have followed her career, Eala's preference comes as little surprise as it is rooted in familiarity and playing style.

The 21-year-old Filipino star thrives on quick, flat groundstrokes and early ball-striking.

Hard courts reward her aggressive baseline game, allowing her to take the ball on the rise, dictate rallies and transition from defense to offense.

Those instincts were developed through years of training, first in Manila and later at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain, where much of her development also came on hard courts.

The surface has likewise become the backdrop for many of her career-defining achievements.

She announced herself to the tennis world by winning the 2022 US Open girls' singles championship without dropping a set, becoming the first Filipino to claim a junior Grand Slam singles title.

Her rise continued with a breakthrough run at the Miami Open in 2025, when she became the Filipina to defeat a Grand Slam champion at a tour-level event in the Open Era. She did so three times, defeating 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round and, most famously, five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. That run saw her become the first woman from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour semifinal and establish herself among the sport's emerging stars.

She returned to Flushing Meadows later in the season and reached another milestone: Eala defeated Denmark's former No. 15, Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11), in the opening round of the 2025 US Open to become the first Filipino in the Open era to win a Grand Slam singles main-draw match.

Within a month, Eala captured her maiden WTA 125 singles title at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico, another hard-court event.

And now she has won her first WTA Tour title, in Washington DC, where the unseeded Filipina defeated No. 7 seed and defending champion Leylah Fernandez, No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka, No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina, and No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula in claiming the Mubadala DC Open.

That victory in Washington D.C. continues the momentum from the finest stretch of her professional career.

She compiled a 12-4 record during the European grass-court season, winning the WTA 125 Lexus Birmingham Open, reaching the semifinals of the WTA 500 Berlin Open and advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon, the deepest Grand Slam run by a Filipino in the Open era, after defeating defending champion Swiatek.

Eala is now working towards the US Open with a more complete game.

Her serve, once viewed as a work in progress, has steadily become a reliable weapon over the past three seasons.

Eala fired just four aces in 2024 before increasing that total to 23 in 2025, per Tennis Head data. This season, she has already more than doubled that figure with 56 aces and counting.

Her effectiveness behind the serve has improved as well.

After winning just 47.8% of her service points in 2024, she raised that mark to 59.4% in 2025 and has remained solid at 56.4% this season.

"My focus right now is to prep for the US Open," Eala said during her homecoming in Manila.

"Some good tournaments."

Despite growing popularity and the expectations that come with it, Eala insists that her biggest source of pressure comes from within.

"I'm a competitive athlete, so there's pressure, but I think the obligation also comes to myself," she said after defeating Fernandez in Washington D.C.

"I'm a very self-demanding person. I'm a very ambitious person, so I'm definitely happy and welcoming to everyone who wants to support me and go along on this journey. But I know that this is my journey first and foremost, and I have the expectations I have on myself."

After Washington, Eala is scheduled to compete at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada, before making her final tune-up at the Cincinnati Open.

She will then take part in the "Stars of the Open" exhibition on Aug. 27, just days before the U.S. Open main draw begins at Flushing Meadows.

Eala will arrive in New York to play on the surface that has shaped her game, on which she has produced her biggest victories, and which offers her the best opportunity to make more history.

She takes those next steps buoyed by her success in Washington D.C., traveling with the knowledge that she has a nation behind her and invested in her.

"Maraming, maraming salamat, mga kababayan," Eala said after defeating Pugula in the final.

["Thank you very, very much, my fellow Filipinos."]

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