Two Southeast Asian tennis players create "earthquakes" at US Opem

(Dan Tri) - In the first round of the 2025 US Open taking place in the early morning of August 25, Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eala and Indonesian tennis player Janice Tjen both won to qualify for the second round.

Alexandra Eala made Philippine tennis history by becoming the first player from the country in the Open Era to win the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

In a match that lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes, Eala made a dramatic comeback from 5-1 down in the final set. She forced 14th seed Clara Tauson into a third-set tie-break and needed five match points to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11).

Eala burst into tears after winning the first round at the US Open (Photo: Getty).

“Being Filipino is something I am very proud of. I don’t have any tournaments in my home country, so being able to have the audience community at the US Open, I am very grateful because they made me feel like I am at home,” Eala shared after the match, expressing gratitude for the enthusiastic support of the audience.

The match was tense from the first set. After exchanging points in the first four games, Eala broke Tauson’s serve to take a 3-2 lead. Notably, the Dane complained to the umpire about the crowd noise, prompting a warning. When Eala extended the lead to 5-3, the umpire once again asked the fans to be quiet.

Eala closed out the first set, but Tauson quickly took control in the second, breaking serve three times to send the match into a deciding set.

Tauson seemed certain to win the third set when she led 5-1. However, with the crowd cheering her on, Eala fought back strongly. She broke Tauson's serve twice to tie the score at 5-5.

At the age of 20, Alexandra Eala made new history for Philippine tennis at the Grand Slam (Photo: Getty).

Despite the disappointment, Tauson saved a match point to force the match into a tie-break. She fought back from 8-4 down and saved three more match points, but it was not enough to prevent Eala from winning the historic match (13-11).

"I always want to learn more about history. This match is a memorable match, for me," said Eala.

This is not Eala's first historic moment in New York. In 2022, she became the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam women's singles title, winning the US Open after defeating Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, Victoria Mboko 6-1, 7-6(5) in the semifinals and Lucie Havlickova 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Eala is now focused on reaching the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

Janice Tjen won the first round of the US Open (Photo: Getty).

In addition to Eala, Southeast Asia also had another player who caused a big stir at the US Open. That was the world No. 149 Janice Tjen, a 23-year-old Indonesian tennis player who made history for Indonesian tennis when she defeated Russian No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. After 22 years, Indonesian tennis had a player win in the main round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hai-tay-vot-dong-nam-a-cung-tao-dia-chan-tai-us-opem-20250825183955445.htm