Eala reaches US Open second round for second straight year

No. 17 seed Alexandra Eala advanced to the second round of the US Open for the second consecutive year with a convincing straight-sets win over American qualifier Mary Stoiana in Tuesday night's session.

Playing in front of a packed crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Eala saved two break points in the opening game and stormed to a 5-0 lead. Stoiana, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut, managed to get on the scoreboard in the sixth game, but Eala held to love to close out the opening set 6-1.

Eala again faced break points in her first two service games of the second set but saved them both. Once she broke for a 3-2 lead, she did not look back, closing out the match 6-1, 6-2 in 1 hour, 17 minutes.

The most telling stat of the night for Stoiana was her break-point conversion rate. She failed to convert any of her six break-point opportunities, while Eala converted four of eight.

The Filipina will face Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round. Oliynykova defeated American wild card Reese Brantmeier 6-4, 6-4 in another first-round match. Eala could face No. 14 seed and close friend Iva Jovic in the third round.

Eala's win continues a strong run on the North American hard-court swing, highlighted by her title run in Washington, D.C. She has now won nine of her past 11 matches on hard courts since Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.