Alexandra Eala won the first nine points of the match and the first set in 23 minutes. By the time Oleksandra Oliynykova had steadied herself, most of the afternoon was gone. Eala beat the Ukrainian 6-1, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium in an hour and four minutes to reach the third round of the US Open for the first time.
The second set was the only part Oliynykova got hold of, and she did not hold it long. She led 2-1 before Eala held to love and broke for 3-2. Oliynykova broke back for 3-3 and got no further. Eala broke again immediately, held to love for 5-3, and served the match out. Five breaks in all, from seven break points.
Oliynykova landed only half of her first serves, which left Eala a steady supply of second balls to stand in on. Nine of the Ukrainian’s unforced errors came in the first seven games. Eala won 59 of the 94 points played and 11 of the 16 points behind her own second serve, finishing with 19 winners against 17 unforced errors while absorbing the changes of pace and spin Oliynykova uses to break up rhythm.
It was a rematch of a loss. Oliynykova beat Eala on clay in Strasbourg in May, in three sets, after Eala had taken the opening set. She is not a soft draw either: 25 years old, at a career-high No. 44, and a third-round finisher at Roland Garros this year. Eala gave one reason for the difference. “My patience and consistency of my focus, I think that was the key,” she said.
The win takes her past her own ceiling at this tournament. Last year Eala beat Clara Tauson here in the first round to become the first Filipino player to win a Grand Slam main-draw match in the Open Era, then lost in the second. She has now cleared that round as the No. 17 seed, having arrived in New York at a career-high world ranking of No. 18.
The seeding is new, and so is most of what produced it. Eala won her first WTA title in Washington at the start of August, beating Jessica Pegula in the final, then reached the third round in Toronto. She made the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, her deepest run at a major. She has not dropped a set in New York.
She plays the winner of Iva Jovic, the No. 14 seed, and Francesca Jones for a place in the fourth round.
