Eala faces friend Jovic in US Open third round

NEW YORK — Friendship will take a back seat when Alex Eala faces Iva Jovic in the third round of the 2026 US Open, with the Filipino star seeking her first official victory over one of her closest friends on tour and a place in the tournament’s last 16.

Eala, the world No. 18 and No. 17 seed in New York, booked her place in the Round of 32 after dispatching Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova, 6-1, 6-4, on Thursday in New York, early Friday in the Philippines. The 21-year-old needed just one hour and four minutes to secure her best US Open result to date.

The victory also completed a measure of revenge for Eala, who had lost to Oliynykova in Strasbourg earlier this season. She controlled the opening set and then held off a stronger challenge in the second to extend a US Open run in which she has yet to drop a set.

Eala began her campaign with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Mary Stoiana before beating Oliynykova by nearly the same scoreline.

Jovic, ranked and seeded No. 14, completed the matchup later Thursday by defeating Great Britain’s Francesca Jones, 6-4, 6-4.

The 18-year-old American also reached the third round without surrendering a set after opening her campaign with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Magdalena Frech of Poland.

That sets up a matchup between two of the WTA Tour’s fastest-rising young players, but one carrying a history that favors Jovic.

Jovic owns a 2-0 record against Eala in their official senior-tour meetings, with both victories coming in straight sets.

Their first meeting came on clay in the opening round of the French Open in May, when Jovic defeated Eala, 6-4, 6-2.

They met again on grass in the Round of 16 of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in June, where Jovic prevailed more comfortably, 6-2, 6-2.

Saturday’s match will therefore be their first official senior-tour meeting on a hard court, a surface Eala lists as her preferred playing surface.

Their familiarity extends well beyond those two matches.

Eala and Jovic are close friends and have also played doubles together, reaching the semifinals of the ASB Classic and later teaming up at Indian Wells.

Only last week, the pair shared Arthur Ashe Stadium during the US Open’s “Stars of the Open” exhibition, where Jovic defeated Eala, 6-3, in a one-set match before the start of the main draw. The exhibition featured four one-set matches involving some of the tour’s leading young players and raised funds for the USTA Foundation.

“Yeah, I’m super excited. The atmosphere is gonna be amazing, and she’s been playing some great tennis,” Jovic said of facing Eala.

“So, it’s nice to be playing each other third round, deeper into the Slam, so hopefully we can all keep going on runs like this,” she added.

The encounter also highlights how quickly both players have climbed the women’s game.

Eala entered the US Open at a career-high world No. 18 after ending 2025 ranked No. 50. She has compiled a 38-20 record in 2026 and captured her first WTA Tour singles title at the Washington DC Open.

Her Washington run included victories over Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, whom Eala defeated, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the final.

Eala also broke new ground at Wimbledon earlier this year, upsetting defending champion Iga Swiatek, 7-6(9), 6-2, to reach the fourth round before losing to Jasmine Paolini in three sets. That made her the first Filipino to reach the second week of a Grand Slam singles tournament.

That Wimbledon result means a win over Jovic would not be Eala’s first appearance in a Grand Slam Round of 16, as initially suggested, but it would give her a first US Open fourth-round berth and match her deepest run at a major.

Her connection with the US Open stretches back even further.

Eala won the girls’ singles championship in New York in 2022 before making history three years later in the women’s main draw.

At the 2025 US Open, Eala rallied from 5-1 down in the deciding set to stun then-world No. 14 Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11), becoming the first Filipino player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles main-draw match.

She exited in the second round that year, making her current third-round appearance another milestone in a rapid progression at Flushing Meadows.

Jovic has been charting a similarly steep rise.

The California-born American captured her first WTA singles title in Guadalajara in 2025 and entered this US Open at a career-high No. 14 after finishing last season at No. 35.

Jovic made her biggest Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2026 Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals and becoming the youngest American woman to make the last eight in Melbourne since Venus Williams in 1998.

She had reached the second round in each of her first two US Open appearances, meaning Saturday’s match will also represent her deepest run at her home Grand Slam.

The matchup presents a different test for Eala from their previous encounters because it comes on hard courts, where the Filipina has produced some of the biggest results of her career, including her Washington title.

It also carries substantially higher stakes than their exhibition meeting a week ago: the winner moves into the US Open Round of 16.