Two years ago, Alexandra Eala made history at the US Open as the first Filipina to win a Grand Slam title when she triumphed as Flushing's girls' singles champion.
The 19-year-old, who trains at Rafael Nadal's flagship academy in Mallorca, Spain, took her first step towards a debut in the women's draw with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Aussie Maddison Inglis on Day 2 of US Open qualifying on Tuesday, in a 2-hour, 3-minute match that saw more than its fair share of momentum shifts.
Eala won the first three games of the opening set en route to winning it, but Inglis hit back for four in a row to start the second to send the match the distance. There, though, Eala was too good: She won five games on the trot to start the final set, and despite failing to convert a match point for the bagel, served things out calmly at 15 to end the contest in front of a packed Court 14.
Having fallen short in the final round of qualifying at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, Eala will have to next overcome a seed, No. 15 Nuria Parrizas Diaz, to get on the precipice of her professional Grand Slam main-draw debut.
However, 2021 US Open girls' singles and doubles champion Robin Montgomery did not fare as well as Eala against another Aussie.
The big-serving left-hander, despite serving nine aces, was broken five times in a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 defeat against Kimberly Birrell in 2 hours and 54 minutes. Montgomery failed to convert two set points in the opening set, and couldn't capitalize on the momentum of winning the second. She fell behind 4-0 to start the third, and later lost the last six points of the match.
Birrell, 26, made her US Open main draw debut last year, and will next face Slovenia's Veronika Erjavec.
Other notable results from Day 2 of qualifying included:
- A big win for Brit Francesca Jones, who toppled No. 5 women's qualifying seed Rebeka Masarova, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(6), in the 10-point deciding tiebreak. Jones led 5-1, and later had three match points, in the third set before holding Masarova off in a match that lasted 2 hours and 11 minutes. The 23-year-old Brit has an inspiring story, as she was born with a thumb and three fingers on each hand, and with only seven toes, as a result of a rare genetic condition, ectrodactyly ectodermal dysplasia.
- Two Court 9 upsets for Jessika Ponchet and Alex Bolt: France's Ponchet cruised in a 62-minute, 6-2, 6-1 rout of No. 7 seed Jana Fett, while Bolt did just the opposite. After losing the first set against No. 4 seed Damir Dzumhur 6-0, the Aussie rallied for a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win. One court over, on Court 10, history-making Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh, a college buddy of Ben Shelton, rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Brandon Holt.
- An epic, and we don't use the term loosely, win for Irina Bara. In the heat of the day on Court 8, the Romanian outlasted You Xiaodi in 3 hours and 13 minutes, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
- Less epic wins for No. 3 qualifying seed Aslan Karatsev, No. 16 seed Leandro Riedi and Canada's Rebecca Marino, but both equally impressive. Karatsev rolled 6-3, 6-1 vs. Enzo Couacaud in just 57 minutes, while Riedi needed one more minute to beat American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran 6-1, 6-3. Marino was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Ysaline Bonaventure in the shortest time of the three: 55 minutes.
- Two impressive scalps for Americans over Czech seeds. Mitchell Krueger toppled No. 28 Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-3, while Elizabeth Mandlik was a 6-3, 6-4 victor against No. 27 seed Sara Bejlek. Also notable was 15-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja's 7-6(5), 6-4 win over fellow American Kayla Day. Pareja has played just five professional events previously, all at $15,000 ITF level.
The second round of the 2024 US Open Qualifying Tournament begins Wednesday, and former Top 10 players Richard Gasquet and Diego Schwartzman will both be back on Stadium 17 looking to extend their US Open careers. Gasquet kicks off proceedings against Vilius Gaubas first at 11 a.m., and Schwartzman will follow in an all-Argentine affair against No. 1 men's qualifying seed Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Click here for Wednesday's full order of play.
