Alex Eala Routed Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 — and Armstrong Roared

Alex Eala did not leave much doubt in her US Open opener. The 21-year-old from the Philippines beat American qualifier Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Al Jazeera and the New York Post reported, and she now faces Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round. The tennis was the short part of the day; the crowd she pulled to Flushing Meadows was what everyone else was watching.

The match was over almost before it started

Eala played up on the baseline and pressured Stoiana from the opening games, the New York Post reported. She took a quick double break to lead 4-0 and never let the first set become competitive. Her lefty serve — far from potent but improving, in the Post’s assessment — held up well: she landed 65 percent of her first serves and won 78 percent of those points as she took the opening set.

Stoiana pushed back briefly in the second set, but Eala broke and held to move ahead 4-2, then staved off six break points in total to seal it. Al Jazeera described it as a near-flawless display.

It was her second career main-draw win at this tournament. The Guardian noted before singles play began that she had exactly one: last year’s win over Clara Tauson, settled in a third-set tiebreak, which made her the first Filipino player to win a grand slam match in the Open era.

The crowd was the actual headline

About four hours before Eala was scheduled to play, every seat at her practice court was already filled, the South China Morning Post reported. Fans arrived with Filipino flags and hats reading “Laban Alex” — fight on, Alex — and some FaceTimed friends and family in. Many of them did not have tickets to the match at all. They came to see her hit tennis balls.

The ones who did get in wrapped around Louis Armstrong waiting for the gates, per the New York Post, some in custom shirts with Eala’s face on them — the same face on a billboard along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Manila’s longest stretch of highway.

The pricing tells the same story in numbers. On a day when the get-in ticket for three of the four sessions was under $120 — Gauff’s Arthur Ashe match included — the exception was $357 for Eala, the Post reported, citing TicketData.com. The Guardian had already recorded resale prices doubling to nearly $400 after the schedule was announced.

Her on-court interview was partly in Tagalog. “MARAMING SALAMAT MGA KABABAYAN!” she said, which the Post translated roughly as “Thank you very much, my fellow countrymen.” In the SCMP’s account of the same moment, she said the fans made it “such a pleasure to do my job.”

Why New York, specifically, goes like this

There is a structural reason the US Open feels like a home tournament for her. The New York area has an estimated 260,000 Filipinos — the Guardian counts them across the metro area, the Post within the city — with the largest concentration in Queens, and the Little Manila neighborhood is a short ride on the 7 train from the tournament grounds. That is not a fan base that had to fly in; it is one that lives down the road.

Eala’s own history with the city runs deeper than her two main-draw appearances. She grew up in Quezon City and was introduced to the game by her grandfather on painted-over basketball courts, the Guardian reported. In 2013 she played a junior event at the West Side Tennis Club, the former site of the US Open. By 13 she had moved to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain; she qualified for the US Open junior main draw in 2019 and won the girls’ title three years later.

The year that turned her into a global name

At No 18, Eala is the highest-ranked player the Philippines has ever produced and, the Guardian wrote, its biggest sports celebrity since Manny Pacquiao. She reached the fourth round at Indian Wells and Miami this spring and upset defending champion Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Centre Court at Wimbledon in July — a result that reads differently now that Swiatek has won 28 straight major openers.

Then came the DC Open last month, where she beat world No 9 Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and top seed Jessica Pegula to win her first tour-level title. The Philippine president hosted a reception in her honor and called for a national celebration, both the Guardian and the Post reported.

The commercial side moved just as fast. The Guardian, citing Forbes, put her off-court earnings for the past year above $5m on top of $1.7m in prize money. The paper separately reported that her agent predicts she will be the world’s second-highest-paid female athlete by 2027. She has 2 million Instagram followers, per the Post.

“She’s got a really solid head on her shoulders. She seems so grateful for everything,” Osaka said, per the Guardian.

Rain, a five-set escape, and a backlog

The rest of Tuesday was messier. Rain forced a long delay to the start of play on the outdoor courts, Al Jazeera reported, and organizers ended the day needing to complete 14 first-round matches on Wednesday, including suspended ones.

Top seed Alexander Zverev — handed top billing in the absence of injured world No 1 Jannik Sinner — needed four hours and 53 minutes to get past Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4, and was two points from defeat at one stage. “I’m just happy I won, that’s it,” Zverev said afterward, per Al Jazeera. “I’m happy that I won this battle and it was exactly what I needed … good things happen after you fight through these matches.” He plays Quentin Halys next.

Under the Ashe roof, Madison Keys beat Alina Korneeva 7-5, 6-4, Taylor Fritz moved past 18-year-old compatriot Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and Gauff opened with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Zeynep Sonmez. Gael Monfils marked his 40th birthday with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 win. If you are catching up on the field and the money at stake, our US Open 2026 preview lays out the tournament Eala walked into.

What happens next

Oliynykova is the immediate assignment; no date for that match was given in the reports available at publication. The longer question is whether the results keep pace with the attention. The Guardian pointed out that Eala has not yet played 100 tour-level matches, that her lefty forehand is her clear weapon and that her serve still needs work.

One more marker sits on the calendar. Eala is set to close the year with a December exhibition at the Philippine Arena, the world’s largest indoor arena, per the Guardian. If the event meets its target of 52,000 fans, it would pass the 51,954 that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal drew in Cape Town six years ago for the most-attended tennis match on record.

FAQ

Who did Alex Eala beat in the US Open first round? American qualifier Mary Stoiana, 6-1, 6-2, on Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium, per Al Jazeera and the New York Post. Eala led 4-0 in the first set and saved six break points.

Who does Eala play in the second round? Oleksandra Oliynykova, per the New York Post. No date or court was given in the reports available at publication.

What is Alex Eala’s ranking, and why is she such a big deal? She is ranked No 18, the highest any Philippine player has ever been, the Guardian reported, and at 21 she is the country’s biggest sports celebrity since Manny Pacquiao. She won her first tour-level title at the DC Open last month, beating Svitolina, Osaka and Pegula.

Did the top seeds survive the first round? Zverev did, but barely: he beat Sonego 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 in four hours and 53 minutes and was two points from defeat, per Al Jazeera. Keys, Gauff, Fritz and Monfils also advanced, while rain left 14 first-round matches for Wednesday.