Eala upsets Tauson at US Open; 1st from Philippines to win major match - ESPN

NEW YORK — Alexandra Eala became the first player representing the Philippines to win a Grand Slam match in the Open era, doing so at the US Open by defeating No. 14 seed Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) on Sunday after coming back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set and getting some help from a key video review decision.

Eala is a 20-year-old who is ranked 75th and trains at the Rafael Nadal Academy. This was her fourth win against a top-20 opponent in 2025, including a victory against Iga Swiatek in March en route to the Miami Open semifinals.

Flushing Meadows is very close to an area of Queens known as Little Manila because of the large Filipino community, and they flocked to Grandstand to cheer on Eala, one of the rising stars of the women's tour.

«To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in,» Eala said. «I don't have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open, I'm so grateful they made me feel like I'm home.»

The pivotal moment came in the last set, with Tauson clinging to a 5-4 lead and serving for the match for the second time. Eala hit a shot right up near the net, and it wasn't immediately clear during play whether or not her racket had crossed over the tape to make contact with the ball, which isn't allowed.

Chair umpire Kader Nouni employed video review, a system that was introduced at the US Open in 2023 on a small number of courts to allow officials to check calls such as double bounces and was expanded to all 17 competition arenas this year.

Nouni ruled that Eala hit the ball fairly and awarded her the point, giving her two break chances at 15-40. There was a lengthy delay before action resumed, though, with Tauson complaining and telling Nouni: «Look at the ball.