Alex Eala’s US Open run now runs straight through a familiar face and a stubborn problem she has yet to solve.
Two matches in, the 21-year-old Filipina has barely broken a sweat in New York. She crushed Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-4, then swept American qualifier Mary Stoiana, 6-1, 6-2, to stride into the third round. Clean scorelines, confident shot-making, barely a hint of trouble.
Now comes Iva Jovic.
World No. 14. American. Close friend. Persistent nemesis.
Eala, ranked No. 18, has already felt the full weight of Jovic’s game this season. Twice. Both times in straight sets. First at the HSBC Championships, where Jovic dominated, 6-2, 6-2. Then on the clay of Roland Garros, where Eala pushed but still fell, 6-4, 6-2, in the French Open first round.
Third meeting. Third surface. Third chance.
This time, the stage is New York, with Jovic on home soil and riding her own wave of form. The 18-year-old American booked her place in the third round with back-to-back straight-sets wins: 6-4, 6-4 over Fran Jones, then 7-5, 6-3 against Magda Frech.
The crowd will be with her. She knows it. She welcomes it.
“Super excited, the atmosphere is going to be amazing,” Jovic said of facing Eala in the third round. “It’s super nice to be playing each other in the third round, deeper in the slams, so hopefully we keep going at runs like these.”
There’s no bad blood here. Just the sharp edge of competition between two players whose careers keep intersecting at bigger and bigger moments.
They’ve shared practice courts, locker rooms, and even a lighter side of the Open, teaming up in the “Stars of the Open” fan event, where their fathers joined them in a fun doubles match. The smiles then will give way to something very different when they cross the net this time.
Eala knows exactly what she’s up against.
“Iva, she’s an amazing player, young, very talented, and very intelligent. She’s higher ranked and very accomplished, and I’ve encountered my fair share of challenges against her this year,” she said.
Those “challenges” are, in cold numbers, two straight-sets defeats. But Eala has not sounded like someone haunted by them. Her approach has been stripped down, almost ruthless in its simplicity.
“It’s not under my control who I play. I just do my best and try to do everything I can to win,” she said.
That mindset has carried her through this opening week: first against Oliynykova, where she dictated from the baseline and closed efficiently, then against Stoiana, where she stamped her authority early and never let the qualifier breathe.
The level now spikes.
Jovic brings heavy groundstrokes, court craft, and the comfort of playing at home, with two solid wins already banked. Eala brings momentum of her own and the hunger to finally “crack the code” of a rival who has so far had all the answers.
Their third-round showdown is set for Saturday (Manila time), with the exact schedule still to be announced.
Friendship will walk them to the net.
History, and maybe the start of a new rivalry tilt, will decide who walks away.
