Even though Alex Eala lost in the first round, she still earned over $10,000 at the US Open.
Alex Eala started her US Open journey by playing mixed doubles with Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime. Unfortunately, things didn’t go their way, and they were knocked out in the first round.
The 21-year-old and Felix got a wildcard to play together, but they lost to the experienced French team of Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, with scores of 4-1, 4-1. Alex wasn’t the only big name to leave early—Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams also lost their first match to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli. Even Novak Djokovic and his partner, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, were defeated by Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova.
Despite going out early, all four top stars earned $20,000 each from the prize money. The winners of this new mixed doubles event were the Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, who beat Bencic and Cobolli in the final. Muchova and Mensik each took home $500,000, while the runners-up earned $250,000 each.
Since her mixed doubles exit, Alex has been focused on getting ready for the singles tournament at the 2026 US Open. She’s been training in New York with Venus Williams, hoping to learn from the seven-time Grand Slam champion. Alex is set to face her friend and hometown favourite, Iva Jovic. Although she lost her last two matches against Jovic—at the French Open and the HSBC Championship—Alex feels positive heading into this tournament.
The 21-year-old comes into the US Open with confidence after a fantastic 2026 season on the WTA Tour. She recently won her first singles title at the Washington Open, a WTA 500 event. Alex has a strong record against Top 10 players this year and believes she can compete with anyone when she’s at her best, making her a real player to watch at this US Open.