Alex Eala stat from US Open first round makes for interesting reading amid 'weakness' suggestion

Alex Eala recorded an eye-opening statistic during her US Open first round win over Mary Stoiana.

Eala secured a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over her American qualifier opponent to progress to the second round of the final Grand Slam of 2026.

The match took place at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, with Eala's popularity meaning that ticket prices surged by around 134% in the hours before it got underway.

The 21-year-old will now take on Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova, who is ranked at number 44 in the WTA rankings, in the second round on Thursday.

Eala won five consecutive games at one stage against Stoiana, and won four out of eight break points.

But the standout statistic perhaps relates to her first serve, which has been at the centre of much scrutiny during her rapid rise up the tennis ranks.

Serena Williams' ex-coach, Rick Macci, claimed on Twitter that Eala should have 'reconstructive surgery' on her serve technique during the off-season, with former British number one Greg Rusedski claiming it could help her become world number one in the future.

READ MORE: Alex Eala told she does something 'nobody else does' that could make her world No.1

Eye-opening Alex Eala stat emerges after US Open win

In the meantime, though, she will no doubt be encouraged by winning 76 per cent of her first serves in her first round victory over Stoiana.

The statistic stood at 84 per cent after the first set before dropping marginally after the second.

It is notable in comparison to her first serve won percentage in her Cincinnati Open defeat to Amanda Anisimova, which was only 58 per cent - suggesting significant work has gone in to improving her serve ahead of the US Open.

For a comparison to other top players, world number one Aryna Sabalenka won 63 per cent of her first serves in her straight-sets win over Camila Osorio, while Coco Gauff won 71 per cent against Zeynep Sonmez.

Elena Rybakina matched Eala with 76 per cent against Thea Frodin.

The two main outliers from the opening round were reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva (85 per cent) and Jessica Pegula (92 per cent). Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, hit 80 per cent.

Back in August, when she won her maiden WTA title at the Washington Open, Eala recorded a first serve won percentage of 86 per cent in the final against Jessica Pegula.

Speaking after that match, Pegula said: "I do feel like today she was going more for percentage than trying to go bigger and hit her spot, so I was seeing less second serves.

"In the warm-up, I think everyone that plays her would probably be working on a slower serve, because her serve is definitely slower and you always practice how the person plays, so if they have a big serve I am practicing with people who are hitting their serve bigger. So I was trying to do more of that today, which didn't really seem to help very much."