It was a special event for a cause.
On Thursday, August 27 (New York time), Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and her close friend and frequent rival on-court, Iva Jovic, met anew at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
While the U.S. Open Grand Slam event is already well underway, the two played in the spirit of fun and camaraderie for the Stars of the Open charity event.
The said play started like any usual tennis game for the two, with Jovic starting strongly in the one-set special match. Although, Eala was able to strike back and push the match into a tie at 3-all.
But the American tennis player was unstoppable during the match and pulled away from her Filipina friend-opponent.
However, in a twist to the said event, the fathers of both athletes appeared beisde them for a short, but heartwarming mixed doubles match. Alex was joined by her dad Michael Eala, while Bojan Jovic stood beside Iva.
In the end, Iva and her dad won the exhibition match, 6-3.
In a post on Instagram, Alex shared a couple of photos from the event. In the event, the Pinay tennis star told: “First time on Ashe, couldn’t imagine sharing this moment with anyone else. [Iva] you were so good out there, and so were our Dads!“
Meanwhile, Iva shared on her page another set of photos and wrote: “Wow… nights like this are not something I take for granted. New york, you guys really showed up last night and we loved every second of it, and so did our dads.”
She also noted that it is a full circle moment for her and Alex to share their first time on Ashe together.
Iva even left a short message in Filipino for her close friend: “Alex, ang galing mo.”
Meanwhile, Eala is seeded no. 17 in the women’s singles event of the actual US Open and will face Mary Stolana in her first match on Monday, August 31.
She is also slated to participated in the upcoming Asian Games that will happen from September 19 in Nagoya and Aichi, Japan and in a special game against her tennis “SEA-bling,” Janice Tjen, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan this December 8.
