Eala exits US Open, falls to Jovic in third round
Alex Eala reached the third round of the 2026 US Open before falling to Iva Jovic 5-7, 6-3, 5-7 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday. The match ran over three hours. It was one of the best women’s singles matches of the tournament.
A Rivalry Getting Tighter
Jovic leads their head-to-head 3-0. The first two meetings were not close. Jovic swept Eala 6-4, 6-2 at Roland Garros in May, then 6-2, 6-2 at the Queen’s Club the following month. Sunday played out differently. Eala took the first set. She pushed Jovic to a third. The 14th-seeded American won five of the last six games to close it 7-5.
Neither player has a dominant serve. Both stayed on the baseline and traded angles. Jovic converted 9 of 17 break points. Eala converted 8 of 20. The match lasted more than three hours and gave the largely pro-Eala crowd at Arthur Ashe exactly what they came for.
First Official Match at Arthur Ashe
This was the first official main-draw match either player had contested at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which seats 23,771. Eala waved to the crowd after the match and smiled. The crowd gave her a send-off that matched the occasion.
How She Got to the Third Round
Eala reached the third round by beating Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 and Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-1, 6-4 in the first two rounds. Both wins came at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The Jovic match was her first at Ashe in the main draw.
She entered the tournament ranked No. 18 in the world. It is her deepest run at the US Open as a senior, going one round further than the second-round exit in 2025. Jovic advances to the fourth round to face No. 4 seed Coco Gauff.
The 3-0 and What It Does Not Reflect
The head-to-head sits at 3-0. The match stats tell a closer story. Eala won the second set, forced Jovic to earn every break, and had a packed Arthur Ashe crowd behind her through the final game. Fans and analysts called it one of the matches of the tournament. She is 21. This is her third round. The first two meetings were not competitive. This one was.
