American teen tennis player Iva Jovic defeated Philippine star Alexandra Eala in a dramatic 3-hour match on the morning of September 6 to advance to the 4th round of the US Open 2026, where she will face No. 4 seed Coco Gauff.
Jovic, 14th seed, won 5 of the last 6 games to win the overall 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 against 17th seed after 3 hours and 3 minutes of competition.
This match is like a marathon, and I felt like I almost went crazy 5 times to win," Jovic shared, "But this feeling is really worth it.
2 promising young stars of women's tennis have turned their debut at Arthur Ashe's court into a memorable battle, with a total of 17 breaks taking place in 33 games.
Jovic (18 years old) and Eala (21 years old) are close friends and sometimes even teammates in doubles, so both understand each other's skills and playing style. This has led to 7 breaks in just the first 11 games.
I'm usually not someone who expresses a lot of emotions, but this match is really very meaningful to me. Playing one more match at the US Open is extremely important," Jovic said.
With this victory, Jovic increased the head-to-head score with Eala to 3-0, after defeating his opponent with scores of 6-4, 6-2 at the French Open and 6-2, 6-2 at Queen's Club earlier this year.
Her next match will be a confrontation with her compatriot Gauff – US Open 2023 and French Open 2025 champion.
I will be very happy to bring this fighting spirit and energy into the match; and no matter what the result, I can still leave the field with my head held high," Jovic added.
Jovic – a player who reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2026 – won his first WTA title in his career last season in Guadalajara at the age of 17.
Eala's next step could be wearing the national team jersey to attend the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, in the context that she is likely to miss the WTA 1000 China Open.
In other matches, Iga Swiatek needed 2 tie-breaks in 2 sets to eliminate Marie Bouzkova. The next opponent of the No. 8 seed is Zheng Qinwen, a player who came from the qualifying round with an incredible comeback against Madison Keys.
The Chinese player lost 1-6 set 1, won set 2 7-6 and was led 5-0 in set 3. However, she won 7 games in a row, including 3 break games of the American opponent, to win 7-5.
Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva both had 1 set to tie-break in victories over Nikola Bartunkova and Yuliia Starodubtseva to advance to the 4th round.
In the 4th round, Rybakina will meet Naomi Osaka, a Japanese player who has gone through 3 sets to eliminate Elise Mertens 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
In the men's singles, after 2 hard rounds, Alexander Zverev easily passed the 3rd round with 3 sets winning 6-2, 7-6 (2) 6-2, against Alejandro Tabilo.
Learner Tien continues his journey with a ticket to the 4th round of the US Open 2026 after 5 sets against Jakub Mensik with scores of 6-1, 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
