Alex Eala advanced to the third round of the US Open for the first time in her career after beating Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-1, 6-4 Friday (PH Time).

The Filipina tennis star dominated the opening set and held her nerve in a tighter second set to continue her campaign at Flushing Meadows, New York.

Eala raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set after breaking Oliynykova twice. Although the Ukrainian managed to break back and get on the scoreboard, Eala quickly recovered, winning the next two games to take the set 6-1.

Oliynykova showed more resistance in the second set, taking an early 1-0 lead before Eala responded with a love hold to level the score.

The two players exchanged breaks midway through the set, with Oliynykova breaking back to make it 3-3 before Eala immediately regained the advantage, 4-3.

Eala then held serve to extend her lead to 5-3 and moved within a game of victory. Oliynykova held to stay alive at 5-4, but Eala remained composed in the following game and closed out the match.

The victory also gave Eala a measure of revenge against Oliynykova, who she had previously faced at the Strasbourg Grand Prix in May before Friday’s showdown.

Eala will next look to extend her historic US Open run in the third round.

The result marks another milestone for the 21-year-old Filipina, who continues to make history on the Grand Slam stage.