She Was 2 Games From the 4th Round. One Break Point Decided It All

Alex Eala was 4-2 up in the third set, two games from the first fourth-round appearance of her career. Twenty-three thousand people on her side. Her opponent calling for the trainer. She won one more game. And the tennis world called it a collapse. But Alex Eala finished with 34 winners against 33 unforced errors — on the positive side after a three-hour war. Three hours and three minutes. Seventeen breaks of serve across 33 games. Dead level at 93-93 points. Decided by ONE break point. The winner said she "lost her sanity five times" to beat Alex Eala, then nearly cried in the press room talking about her. The head-to- head still reads 0-3. But the first two matches took barely an hour each. This one almost broke the winner. This was not a collapse. It was the start of a rivalry. 🔔 Subscribe for the real stories behind the scoreboard. #AlexEala #IvaJovic #USOpen