Philippines’ Alexandra Eala celebrates defeating Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova during their women's singles second round tennis match on day five of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on September 3, 2026. Timothy A. Clary, AFP
(UPDATED) Filipina tennis star Alex Eala marched to the third round of the US Open in impressive fashion on Thursday, powering past Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova in New York City.
Eala, seeded 17th in the tournament, came away with a 6-1, 6-4 win at the Louis Armstrong Stadium to continue her progress in the final Grand Slam of the year.
The result gave Eala a measure of revenge against Oliynykova, as the Ukrainian had beaten her when they played at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May.
READ: Alex Eala turns focus to Olejnikova rematch
This time around the Filipina would not be denied, with Eala winning the first nine games to set the tone of the match. She breezed through the opening set, surging to a 4-0 advantage before Oliynykova broke her in the fifth game to get on the board.
It proved to be a minor bump in the road, as Eala immediately broke back then held to love to comfortably take the opener.
The second set was a trickier affair, with Oliynykova utilizing a variety of looping shots and slices to keep Eala off-balance. A well-hit forehand winner put the Ukrainian ahead, 2-1, before Eala served up a love game to knot the count anew.
Eala appeared to have the momentum on her side when she broke Oliynykova in the fifth game, but the Ukrainian broke back to stay in the hunt, 3-3. A second break finally gave Eala a lead that she would not relinquish, and another love hold put her on the brink, 5-3.
Oliynykova mounted a final charge and held to stay in the match, but Eala would come through on her own serve. An errant forehand by Oliynykova gave Eala two match points, and a poor forehand return by the Ukrainian wrapped up the match after an hour and four minutes.
"I think my patience and the consistency of my focus. I think that was the key to winning the match today," said Eala afterward.
It was a composed performance from Eala, who had squandered a one-set lead when she first played Oliynykova during the clay court season.
The Filipina ace will now play the winner of the match between American Iva Jovic and British qualifier Francesca Jones in the third round.
OTHER RESULTS
Meanwhile, in other results in the women's draw, two former champions also advanced to the third round.
Iga Swiatek marched through with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nadia Podroska while Naomi Osaka survived a second-set swoon to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
Former Australian Open champion Madison Keys saved five match points as she rallied from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Anna Bondar 4-7, 6-4, 7-6 (10/5).
— with Agence France-Presse
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