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Sports · US Open 2026 · Women's Singles · Round of 128
Alexandra Eala vs Mary Stoiana — 6-1 6-2
 Alexandra Eala✓ | 6 | 6 |
 Mary Stoiana | 1 | 2 |
Final · Tuesday, September 1, 2026 · Round of 128
Result
Alexandra Eala arrived seeded 17th, the highest Grand Slam seeding a Filipino player has held, and the tournament put her on the 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium — a bigger court than several higher seeds got. "We knew it had to be on a major stadium," the tournament director Eric Butorac said. She won the first five games in about half an hour, trailed 1-2 in the second set, then took four games in a row and served it out from 0-30 down: 6-1, 6-2 in seventy-eight minutes, four breaks from eight chances and all six break points against her saved. Mary Stoiana, 23 and ranked 122nd, was in her first Grand Slam main draw, having beaten Harmony Tan, Katie Swan and Yue Yuan in qualifying; she left Texas A&M last year as a former national collegiate player of the year. Eala won her first WTA title in Washington in August and reached a career-high No. 18 the week before this tournament. "It was my first time playing on one of the main stadiums here," she said, "and it was very loud — especially when the roof is closed."
Alexandra EalaRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
At this Stage
The Round of 128 is the widest the net ever gets: 64 matches a draw, spread across three days, every seed in action and every qualifier playing the biggest match of the year. This half of the bracket filled in late — qualifying ran a day long after rain pushed the last round to Friday, so these names were still blank slots on draw night. First-round losers leave with $140,000. The winner draws Oliynykova or Brantmeier in the Round of 64.
What we know now
Court: Louis Armstrong Stadium
Match length: 1:18
Watch: ESPN · ESPN2 · ABC · ESPN app
What I said beforehand
The preview, frozen before the first serve. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the pick worth anything.
Eala is the 17th seed, world No. 18, left-handed, 31–19 this season and 21 years old — the biggest name in this batch. Stoiana is a 122nd-ranked American qualifier making her US Open main-draw debut, 9–9 on the season with a 5–9 hard record. Eala's 322-point hard-court Elo edge is the second largest in this batch. Straight sets, unless a home crowd finds something.
The case for Alexandra Eala
84% to winSeventeenth seed, world No. 18, left-handed, 31–19. Eala's rise has been built on exactly this kind of match — taking care of opponents she should beat — and a 322-point hard-court Elo gap does not usually get argued with in the first round.
The case for Mary Stoiana
16% to winStoiana is American, playing at home, and has three qualifying wins on these courts this week. Eala's career hard-court record (45–36) is solid rather than overwhelming, and a seeded 21-year-old carrying expectation is a different proposition to a qualifier carrying none.
Both cases written 2026-08-29, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
My locked pick: Alexandra Eala to advance ✓ RIGHT
“A seeded top-20 left-hander with a 322-point hard-court Elo edge over a debutant qualifier.”
Locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Alexandra EalaMary StoianaPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-08-28.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Storylines
- Eala is seeded 17th — her first time seeded at the US Open.
- Stoiana is making her US Open main-draw debut through qualifying, at 23.
- A 322-point hard-court Elo gap, the second widest in this batch.
Head to head
They have never met.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Court & schedule: Louis Armstrong Stadium, Tuesday 1 September in the night session. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before; this one is on the board. (Official US Open order of play, as of 2026-08-30)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — was forecast at 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that could not be pushed back. The rain came in the morning and stopped before the final, which Ashe played with its roof open. It cleared from there: 15% overnight, 15% Monday, then dry and sunny. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.