HERE WE GO

With a large Filipino community in New York, expect the Filipina ace to feel at home as she chases the biggest title of her young career since winning the Mubadala DC Open — a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500-rated event — in Washington early last month.

Indeed, Eala holds the edge.

Seeded as No. 17 in this tourney that features the brightest tennis stars in the world from Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, and hometown favorites Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, Eala is marching to the final Grand Slam event of the year armed with her career-best ranking of world No. 18.

She has been in the Big Apple since last week and even played in a pair of exhibition matches — first was in the mixed doubles event with Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and, second, was in the Stars of the Open against close pal Iva Jovic of the United States.

Although Eala lost both matches, it doesn’t matter as she got a feel of the hard surface as well as the cavernous stadium that was filled up to the rafters when she had a swing session and light training over the weekend.

“It’s a great way to practice against a great opponent. Amazing court, and you get the atmosphere of the match, so with the way I approach these matches, I focus on myself,” said Eala, who let herself get loose when she played with her father, Mike, during the “Stars of the Open” event.

“It’s a good exercise to switch back and forth between fun and really locked in. It’s nice to let loose and have a little fun.”

But Stoiana is no pushover.

The 23-year-old American, who made history when she led Texas A&M to its first National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I title in 2024, earned her main-draw berth through the qualifiers, capped by a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Yue Yuan of China.

In their lone duel, the Filipina defeated Stoiana in the second round of the Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge, an International Tennis Federation tourney, in Landisville, Pennsylvania, in 2024 when Eala was still outside the WTA Top 100.

Now, both players return to the US Open with much more at stake. Eala is looking to surpass her previous finish of advancing to the second round when she beat Clara Tauson of Denmark last year while Stoiana is out to make an impact in her debut in the Grand Slam main draw.

Should Eala emerge victorious, she will face either world No. 46 Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine or American Reese Brantmeier in the second round.

Right now, Eala is already assured of $140,000 — or around P8.6 million — simply for making the main draw. A victory over Stoiana would raise her guaranteed payday to roughly P11.7 million.