Alex Eala continued to be a set shy of history after falling to Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, in the third round of the US Open qualifiers on early Friday, Aug. 23, in New York. 

For the third straight time, the 19-year-old Eala managed to inch closer to the main draw of a pro Grand Slam event only to run out of steam in the final round and come up short of a historic debut in any of the prestigious tournaments. 

In May, Eala stood on cusp of a historic feat during her 19th birthday hoping to qualify to the clay court competition of the Roland Garros but to no avail. 

Eala, looking to make her first Wimbledon Championships experience count, appeared in the final round of the grasscourt tournament’s qualifiers in similar fashion the following month. 

Eala had consistent momentum building up to the US Open after securing the singles and doubles titles in the ITF W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain last month before heading back to the United States where she made back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. 

The Filipina tennis ace was looking stellar and poised to become the first Filipina to reach the main draw of any major Grand Slam tournament which was something she has been working on since winning the US Open girls singles title in 2022. 

With bigger goals, Eala looks to decorate her professional resume the same way she did in the juniors. 

Until then, the chase to the main draw continues for Eala, who currently sits 148th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. 

"I was so close to achieving a big goal of mine, but today it was not meant to be. Nevertheless, this week has been nothing short of a thrilling dream. Playing in this atmosphere is something I have never experienced before and would not trade for the world," Eala wrote on social media. 

It's not lost on Eala how much her career has grown and has reached Filipinos, who all came down to cheer on her journey as she thanked them for the support. 

"Gusto kong magpasalamat sa lahat ng nanood at nag cheer sa akin kanina, sa personal man o sa livestream. Salamat lalong lalo na sa pamilya ko, sa mga taong hindi pumasok sa trabaho, at sa mga lumakbay ng malayo para lang mapanood ang laban ko. Narinig at naramdaman ng puso ko ang bawat sigaw at bawat palakpak niyo para sa akin. Maraming maraming salamat mga Kababayan," she said. 

"May tiwala ako na kahit masakit ang talo ngayon, may plano sa akin si Lord, kaya sigurado ako na makukuha ko din 'to balang araw. Hindi pa tapos ang Laban! Sabayan niyo po akong magdasal na makapasok sa main draw bilang Lucky Loser," Eala concluded.

After emphatically taking the opening set and setting the tone like clockwork, Eala found herself trailing 0-4 in the second set and only managed to break Ruse’s serve to make it a 1-4 deficit before running out of gas to turn it around. 

In the third set, Eala put on her most determined fightback where she took the lead at 3-2 but Ruse survived the rally and held serve to lock the game at 3-all. 

From then on, anything Eala did, Ruse countered with ruthless efficiency to keep the Filipina at bay.