Alex Eala’s first Grand Slam main draw of the 2026 season now has a face, and it is a familiar one. The world No. 18, seeded No. 17 at Flushing Meadows, will open her US Open campaign against American qualifier Mary Stoiana, with the match expected on Monday, August 31, per The Manila Times.
The rematch nobody saw coming
Eala and Stoiana have met exactly once before, and the Filipino came out on top. At the 2024 ITF 1000 Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge in Pennsylvania, Eala swept the round of 16 in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, according to The Manila Times. Now the American gets a second crack at her, this time on the biggest stage in the sport.
Stoiana arrives through the qualifying draw after winning three straight matches at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, including a three-set clincher over Yue Yuan of China on Friday, per Texas A&M’s official site. She enters as the world No. 122.
Who is Mary Stoiana
Stoiana is no ordinary qualifier. The 2025 Texas A&M graduate is the 2024 ITA National Player of the Year and a two-time SEC Player of the Year, and she led the Aggies to their first national championship in 2024. Her college numbers are staggering: a 47-0 record at home and a 66-7 mark on the No. 1 court, with Texas A&M highlighting her as the most prolific player in program history.
| Mary Stoiana college resume | Mark |
|---|---|
| Overall record | 138-20 |
| No. 1 court record | 66-7 |
| Home (dual) record | 47-0 |
| ITA All-American (singles and doubles) | 3x |
| SEC Player of the Year | 2x |
| National championships (2024) | 1 |
Eala’s form coming in
Eala is riding the best stretch of her career. She reached a career-high world No. 18 in the rankings released Monday, and the US Open’s official site notes she enters as the highest-seeded Filipina in Grand Slam history at No. 17. Earlier this month she captured her maiden WTA singles title in Washington D.C., becoming the WTA’s first Filipina champion, then followed with a round-of-16 run at the Canadian Open.
Flushing Meadows has been good to her. Eala won the US Open girls’ singles title in 2022, the first Filipino to claim a junior major, and last year beat then-No. 14 seed Clara Tauson in the first round for the first Grand Slam main-draw win by a Filipino in the Open Era.
How to watch and what’s next
The match is not on Sunday’s order of play, so Filipino fans should plan around a Monday start at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Win this one and Eala keeps rolling toward a season she has already framed around country first, having locked in her Asian Games spot over two WTA 1000 events and booked a December homecoming at the Philippine Arena.
On paper this draw is winnable, but Stoiana’s college pedigree means it will not be easy. A straight-set repeat of 2024 would send the Philippines into a frenzy. #AlexEala #USOpen #Tennis #PhilippineSports
