Who is Alex Eala’s US Open Round 2 opponent? Spanish star Cristina Bucsa
Alex Eala has already made history at the US Open, though she will have further milestones in her sight when she returns to court.
A dramatic three-set triumph over 14th seed Clara Tauson saw the 20-year-old become the first Filipino player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam match, and has provisionally propelled her back inside the top 70 of the WTA Rankings.
Now, Eala will look to keep her US Open campaign alive when she takes on world No 95 Cristina Bucsa on Wednesday, as she looks to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Here, we look at all you need to know about Bucsa ahead of the clash.
Background
Born in Moldova in January 1998, Bucsa moved to Spain at the age of three, and began representing the country as a 17-year-old in 2015, having become a Spanish citizen the previous year.
Her father, Ion, is a former biathlete, and was Moldova’s flagbearer at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympic opening ceremonies.
Bucsa first started playing tennis aged five in Torrelavega and briefly trained in Barcelona as a teenager, though she is now largely based in her hometown in the north of Spain.
A largely private person, the 27-year-old is one of the few tennis players without any public social media profiles.
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Tennis career
The bulk of Bucsa’s success has come on the doubles court, reaching a career-high of world No 19 in the doubles rankings last year.
She is the winner of seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, most notably winning the Madrid Open alongside compatriot Sara Sorribes Tormo in 2024.
Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo were women’s doubles bronze medallists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and she was a runner-up alongside Miyu Kato at the Miami Open earlier this season.
In singles, the Spaniard reached her career-high ranking of world No 56 in January 2024.
Bucsa has never reached a tour-level final during her singles career, with the biggest title of her career coming at WTA Challenger level, winning the Open de Limoges in December 2023.
At Grand Slams, her best results so far have been two third-round showings.
She reached the third round of the 2023 Australian Open as a qualifier, shocking former Grand Slam champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round before falling to top seed Iga Swiatek.
Bucsa then reached the third round of Wimbledon this summer, defeating Anca Todoni and 22nd seed Donna Vekic before a loss to lucky loser Solana Sierra.
Having previously reached the second round of the US Open in 2022, the 27-year-old returned to Round 2 at Flushing Meadows this year thanks to a 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Claire Liu.
Head-to-head and start time
The two have met just once before, back at an ITF event in Grenoble in 2021.
Though it is hard to read too much into a result from four years ago, Eala may take confidence from a battling 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) victory when still a teenager.
The second-round meeting between Eala and Bucsa will take place on Wednesday, the first of two days of Round 2 action in New York.
Wednesday’s schedule is yet to be officially confirmed.
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