Eala takes on American Stoiana in US Open first round
MANILA, Philippines — And the battle lines are drawn.
Alex Eala, after setting another history for the Philippines as the cover of Sports Illustrated and Forbes Saturday, will face American qualifier Mary Stoiana in Round 1 of the 2026 US Open main draw on Monday (Tuesday Manila time) at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Eala, who is also confirmed to play for flag in the Achi-Nagoya Asian Games next month, drew the 23-year-old American as her first litmus test in an anticipated US Open return with high hopes of a deep run after the latter hacked out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Chinese Yue Yuan in the final of the qualifying round yesterday.
Before that, Stoiana escaped Katie Swan of Great Britain, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3, and drubbed Harmony Tan of France, 6-4, 6-3, to win the three-round qualifiers and earn her first-ever Grand Slam main draw ticket.
The match is set on Monday at a still-to-be-determined game time and court designation, with the winner advancing to the Round of 64 against either No. 46 Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine or No. 425 Reese Brantmeier of the United States.
The trek for Eala gets tougher from there with No. 14 Iva Jovic, No. 4 Coco Gauff, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva and No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the succeeding rounds of the bottom half. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka spearheads the upper half of the US Open bracket.
Eala boasts all the advantages over Stoiana as the WTA No. 18 for her new career-high ranking and No. 17 seed in the 128-woman US Open field as her highest seeding ever in any Grand Slam main draw.
She’s also a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Stoiana back in 2024 during their ITF days at the W100 Landisville in Pennsylvania.
Stoiana is at No. 122 but if there’s one lesson in history that has taught Eala — it’s the grit and hunger of a heavy underdog in springing a surprise under the bright lights of the Big Apple.
Last year, the then-World No. 75 Eala pulled off a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) stunner on world No. 15 Clara Tauson of Denmark to become the first Filipina match winner in Grand Slam history.
And Stoiana, despite not having a breakthrough in the pro circuit just yet, is no pushover either regardless of the world rankings and seedings.
She’s once the No. 1 college player in the US NCAA, bringing a championship to Texas A&M and being named MVP and ITA National Player of the Year.
Good thing for Eala, she’ll march into battle beaming with extra motivation after dapping it up with NBA champion and compatriot Jordan Clarkson of the New York Knicks.
WHEN TWO FILIPINO STARS COLLIDE IN NEW YORK!!! ?????????????
— MIC | BACKTOHARDCOURT EALA (@EalaNation) August 28, 2026
Jordan Clarkson ???? Alex Eala
Filipino pride on FULL DISPLAY on the biggest stage! ?????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/FoFvaSHj55
“This brings so many people together. It’s crazy that I’m meeting you and knowing how people can connect through sports, culture and nostalgia. It’s really a powerful thing,” said Eala on the Filipino-American NBA star.
“When you got a Filipino blood, you take the whole country and the whole pride with you. We Filipinos are everywhere. We’re doing a lot for the country and the culture. This has been a big year for the Philippines in general,” added Clarkson, also a Gilas Pilipinas player.
Aside from a fun encounter with Clarkson, Eala also served as guest in Served with Andy Roddick, the tennis podcast of the American legend, and got featured on the daily cover of Sports Illustrated and Forbes.
On court, Eala also got to play with her dad in the Stars of the Open exhibition match against Jovic after debuting in the mixed doubles with ATP No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
Eala is hoping for those preparations to pay off in a day as it’s go time for her bid to surpass a magical Round of 16 run in Wimbledon last month.
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