Story by
Iva Jović and Alex Eala, two rising stars of women’s tennis, light up U.S. Open primetime
- Story by
- Iva Jović and Alex Eala, two rising stars of women’s tennis, light up U.S. Open primetime
NEW YORK — Days after celebrating her high school graduation on the grounds of the U.S. Open with her cap in hand, Iva Jović passed another milestone at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She won her first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium in a primetime showcase of two rising stars in women's tennis, beating her good friend, Alex Eala , 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
The win sends her into the fourth round of her home Grand Slam for the first time, where she will face an opponent who is plenty familiar with the biggest stage in tennis: Coco Gauff .
Advertisement
This year, New York has tested Jović, an 18-year-old Californian born to a Serbian father and Croatian mother. A rain delay Tuesday made her wait until Wednesday afternoon to finish her first-round match, by which time several players had already made it to the third round.
Her eating schedule was off. Her energy was zapped. Her sleep routine was in disarray. Her week was shaping up to be a classic U.S. Open experience.
Jović is still learning how to embrace the quirks of tennis life. This January, she became the youngest woman to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open since Venus Williams. She has been steadily gaining experience at the Grand Slams ever since: Jović made the third round at the French Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon.
But the U.S. Open is different for Americans. At least, it usually is.
Advertisement
Jović was feeling the pressure and excitement of playing at home, but Saturday's crowd, to no one's surprise, roared for Eala.
The 21-year-old from the Philippines draws massive crowds wherever she plays. It's part of the reason the U.S. Tennis Association put her and Jović on the gigantic Arthur Ashe Stadium, in the showpiece Saturday night time slot.
Eala launched herself into a stratosphere beyond tennis this summer, when she beat six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Świątek at Wimbledon. Since then, Eala has made more history by capturing her first career title at the 500-level D.C. Open last month. That win made her the first player from the Philippines to win a title on the WTA Tour.
"It's indescribable to sum up the support and how it makes me feel in just a few words," Eala said, tearing up in a news conference after Saturday's match. "It's a real privilege to experience this in a lifetime."
Advertisement
The crowd packed into the almost 24,000-seat stadium, making what was already a highly anticipated matchup thrum with electricity.
Jović welcomes the noise.
"I don't care if they're cheering for me, against me, I don't care who they're cheering for. There's so many people there, it's the biggest stadium in tennis, so I'm just really grateful to have been a part of it," Jović said.
Both players, for now at least, speak often about a new way of doing things on the WTA Tour. They've been buddies for about four years; they don't follow the old belief that winners don't have friends in the locker room. Life as a professional tennis player is far too isolating for that.
Advertisement
"I think it's really good, because it's very lonely and we are traveling basically all the time, so our concept of friendships and family and everything is a little bit warped," Jović told reporters after her second-round win over Francesca Jones, yet another young player who's good friends with Eala.
"You need to have the people you can lean on through the tour, and not everyone's open for that — personal choices — but it's obviously very difficult to be friends and also compete.
"But there's quite a few, especially the younger players, who are very open to that and want to have a good time, want to build friendships," Jović added. "Then, on the court, it's fair game."
Jović has no problem flipping that switch in her brain. She'd beaten Eala twice before Saturday night, once on grass and once on clay.
Advertisement
Eala's game is crafty, with plenty of spin, and she has a knack for finding tricky angles. But she also wins by applying pressure on her opponents and taking their time away on court. She reads the court well, anticipates and takes the ball early.
That's difficult to do against someone as fast as Jović, and who hits a ball as heavy. It also helps that Jović is the rare player who is as fearless as Eala.
That's what the tennis world saw Saturday night — two players going all out to outfox each other on the ground. Neither Jović nor Eala has a sturdy serve, as is common among players their age, so quick points were few and far between. The match was instead a battle of strategy and focus, and a test of which player could execute her shots best under pressure, amid the excited buzz of a crowd waiting for reasons to explode.
"It took losing my earrings, falling literally flat-out on the floor, cuts on my knees, mental breakdowns. It took literally everything," Jović said.
Advertisement
After two seesawing sets, Jović lasered a backhand return down the line into the corner behind Eala, working her way back from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to 4-4.
Jović had match point on Eala's serve at 4-5, 30-40, but Eala curled a serve just on the service line and Jović overcooked her backhand, sending it long. On the next point, Eala drilled the ball into Jović's forehand before wrong-footing her with a change of direction, then hit a 112 mph serve — a lightning strike compared to Eala's usual serve — and Jović's return sailed out.
But then Jović won a quick service game, a rarity in a match with more breaks than holds. That pushed the set to 6-5, forcing Eala to serve to send the match to a 10-point tiebreak.
Jović did just enough to get herself a match point, and Eala set it up beautifully, pulling Jović into the corner before stepping in to smash a winner. But she sent a forehand smack into the net instead, and Jović fell to the ground in celebration.
Advertisement
When she rose, her friend was there, having crossed to her side of the net to give her a hug.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
Culture, Tennis, Women's Tennis
2026 The Athletic Media Company
