Alex Eala earns No. 2 seed at 2021 US Open juniors

MANILA, Philippines — Filipina teen sensation Alex Eala has been installed as the No. 2 seed in the prestigious US Open junior tennis championships slated September 6 to 11 in New York City. 

Eala, also the ITF Juniors No. 2, only trails world No. 1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra among the contenders of the fourth and last major this year after the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. 

The 16-year-old Eala is looking for her first singles and third overall Slam in the US Open after copping two doubles crowns with different partners. 

Eala bagged the 2020 Australian Open with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho before ruling the 2021 French Open with Russian friend Oksana Selekhmeteva. 

In the US Open, Eala will be out for revenge after settling for a second-round campaign in 2019. Last year’s edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She also fell short in her Wimbledon debut last month, absorbing identical second-round exits in the girls’ singles and doubles events. 

The left-handed prodigy then made up for it with a twin-title feat in the JA Milan, which catapulted her to second place in the world junior rankings behind Kasintseva. 

Eala, a scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain, also made ground in the women’s pro circuit at No. 507 as per the latest WTA rankings.