New York, Sep 2 (IANS) Alexandra Eala kicked off her 2026 US Open campaign with a dominant win over American qualifier Mary Stoiana, advancing to Round 2 at Flushing Meadows for the second consecutive year.
Eala’s win continues a strong run on the North American hard-court swing, highlighted by her title run in Washington, D.C. She has now won nine of her past 11 matches on hard courts since Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
In her US Open debut in 2025, Eala upset 14th seed Clara Tauson before losing to Cristina Bucsa in the second round. Continuing her Grand Slam success this season, she has now won her opening match at two consecutive majors, including a career-best Slam run to the Wimbledon fourth round earlier this summer.
The No. 17 seed, Eala played a shaky first service game, saving two break points in front of a packed crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium,. Those pressure points seemed to be all that Eala needed to sink her teeth into the match, rolling to a 5-0 lead before closing out the first set 6-1, behind winning 84 percent of her first-service points.
Stoiana generated two breakpoint opportunities in Eala’s first service game of the second set. However, once again she could not convert, allowing Eala to maintain control and kept the pedal to the metal, and a break in the fifth game of the second set proved to be the boost needed to power her through the finish line.
Eala bookended the match in the same way she started, winning the final five games in a row. In the clutch moments, she was nearly perfect, saving all six break points against her while converting four of eight break chances on Stoiana’s serve.
The Filipina will face Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round. The last time the pair matched up was earlier this year in Strasbourg. The match went the distance, with Oliynykova getting the better of Eala, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
–IANS
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