Alex Eala advances to US Open second round after winning against Mary Stoiana

Alex Eala booked her spot in the second round of the US Open after winning against American qualifier Mary Stoiana.

The Filipina tennis star powered past Stoiana, 6-1, 6-2, at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 2 (Philippine time) to reach the next round of the tournament.

In her post-match interview, Eala highlighted how grateful she is for the support she's been getting so far in her journey.

"I want to thank the community here in New York, the tennis fans who are not just from the Philippines but who have been making me feel so loved and who are so enthusiastic and contributing to the growth of women's tennis," she said.

"Thank you, everybody, for being part of my journey and making it such a pleasure to do my job," she added.

Eala looked back on her journey since she won the US Open junior singles title four years ago.

"It's an amazing time for me to reflect on the past four years, but it's also an amazing time for me to look ahead and see my whole career ahead of me and see the people that I go through it with and share the blessings with them," she mused.

Eala will face Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round.