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Reuters

Agence France-Presse

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines brushed ⁠aside Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova ⁠6-1, 6-4 on Friday to reach the third ⁠round of the US Open, keeping alive the buzz for her fervent following in New York.
The 21-year-old left hander lost to Oliynykova in Strasbourg earlier this year but had the right formula this time around; Eala needing little more than ‌an hour to book a third-round meeting with No 14 seed Iva Jovic of the USA.
“My patience and the consistency of my focus [were] the key to winning the match today,” Eala said.
Fresh from claiming her first career title in Washington last month, Eala won the opening four games across a dominant first set, striking ‌11 winners to none from her opponent.
The two players traded breaks in a far more competitive second set, where Eala broke from the baseline in ‌the seventh game before slamming her foot on the gas and wrapping up the win with an ⁠unreturnable serve.
The first player from the Philippines to win ‌a WTA Tour-level match, Eala was urged on by her compatriots in Louis Armstrong Stadium, where signs in Tagalog urged her to “fight ‌on”.
“I think ‌we all represent something [and] I’m proud of what I represent,” Eala said.
The fleet-footed, wide-smiling Eala has ‌catapulted herself into fans’ hearts as quickly as she has surged up the rankings, having ended 2025 ⁠world No 50 and arrived at Flushing Meadows 18th in the global standings.
Eala, who last year exited the US Open in the second ⁠round, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this summer for her deepest run at a major, and she said that experience was fuelling her New ‌York campaign.

“I do feel like a ‌more well-rounded player and more mature,” Eala said. “I guess with time comes maturity and more intelligence.
“I think I just have more knowledge ... in terms of tennis and competing at the very high level. [I know] what I’m capable of and believe in myself.”
Zheng Qinwen, meanwhile, celebrated demonstratively after outlasting Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in her second-round match; the 2024 Olympic gold medallist relishing the return of her game – and her competitive fire.
The Chinese former world No 4 endured an injury-plagued 2025 that included a longer than anticipated recovery from elbow surgery.
She missed the Australian Open in January and has struggled to regain her form, and the mindset of a champion.
“Before the surgery, for me winning was like drinking water,” Zheng said. “Everything came naturally, everything was fluent.
“After my surgery, I had some tough matches against the best players in the world [and] I was close but I didn’t get them.
“I totally lost the dynamic of how to compete.
“I really felt for the first time in this tournament I found myself, I found my fire back during the competition.”
Zheng plummeted so far in the rankings that she had to go through qualifying to seal her US Open berth.
She grudgingly acknowledged that grinding through the qualifiers might have helped her regain her competitive edge, but that didn’t alleviate the sting of tumbling outside the top 100.
“It took a while for me to accept my ranking dropped to 125 and that ‘OK, I need to actually play qualifiers’,” she said.

Now she’s in the thick of the main draw and will face 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys for a place in the last 16.
Zheng is looking forward to the test, and likely a chance to step back onto one of the main show courts after toiling through two rounds out of the spotlight.
“I used to always play on the big court,” she said. “I need to fight to get everything back.”
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka overcame Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to set up a third-round date with Elise Mertens, a 6-2, 7-6 winner over Maria Timofeeva.
In the men’s draw, No 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime wilted in baking temperatures in Louis Armstrong Stadium as he was ousted in four sets by unseeded Karen Khachanov.
Beaten 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, Canadian Auger-Aliassime said: “After a set and a half, I just couldn’t feel well and was dizzy and seeing spots and couldn’t recover. I thought maybe it would pass, but it didn’t.”
Russian Khachanov will next play Benjamin Bonzi after the Frenchman beat Peru’s Ignacio Buse 6-2, 7-6, 6-0.


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Sport

Tennis

Filipino star cruises into round 3 at Flushing Meadows, as Zheng survives three-set battle and Felix Auger-Aliassime wilts in New York heat


Filipino star cruises into round 3 at Flushing Meadows, as Zheng survives three-set battle and Felix Auger-Aliassime wilts in New York heat.


US Open: Alexandra Eala marches on, as China’s Zheng Qinwen regains ‘competitive fire’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Filipino star cruises into round 3 at Flushing Meadows, as Zheng survives three-set battle and Felix Auger-Aliassime wilts in New York heat

Filipino star cruises into round 3 at Flushing Meadows, as Zheng survives three-set battle and Felix Auger-Aliassime wilts in New York heat