Alex Eala reaches the US Open second round again, 6-1, 6-2 in 78 minutes

Alexandra Eala beat Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The match lasted 1 hour 17 minutes on the WTA clock and 1 hour 18 minutes on the US Open sheet. Eala, 21, from Quezon City, is seeded 17th. She is ranked 18th, a career high set on 24 August. It is her second straight year in the US Open second round.

Stoiana, an American qualifier, was in a Grand Slam main draw for the first time. Eala faced two break points in the opening game, held, then ran to 5-0. Stoiana held in the sixth game to avoid a 6-0 set. Eala served it out at love. In the second set she saved break points in her first two service games, broke to 3-2, and closed 6-2. She saved six break points in all. First-serve in was 65 percent. Points won on first serve were 78 percent.

What she brought into New York

Eala won the Mubadala DC Open in August, the first WTA 500 title by a player from the Philippines. The draw in Washington ran through Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula. The Philippine president hosted a reception when she got home. She had already beaten Iga Swiatek in Miami last year and again at Wimbledon in July, where she reached a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time. Since Wimbledon she has won nine of 11 hard-court matches.

Career singles titles: one. Career prize money: just over $3 million. Year-to-date singles wins: 31. The crowd on Armstrong treated her as a home draw. The New York Post called the following Ealamania. That is a tabloid word. The concrete fact is a packed Tuesday night session for a 17th seed who is not American.

Who is next

Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine beat American wild card Reese Brantmeier 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. That is Eala's second-round match. Elsewhere on the same rain-cut day, Alexander Zverev crawled past Lorenzo Sonego after standing two points from a first-round exit. Coco Gauff beat Zeynep Sonmez 6-3, 6-4. Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz also won under the Ashe roof. Mirra Andreeva beat Janice Tjen 6-2, 6-2. Flavio Cobolli came back from two sets down against Francisco Comesana.

Eala told the press she was happy with her level. The level that matters for the rest of the fortnight is whether the DC Open week was a peak or a new floor. A second-round win in New York would be her deepest US Open run. A loss to Oliynykova would still leave the ranking, the title and the Wimbledon fourth round on the year. The 6-1, 6-2 scoreline is the night's result. The next match decides whether Flushing Meadows becomes a second week story for Manila or a first-week footnote.