Day of feats at the US Open with victories by Eala and Tjen in the women's draw

The first day of the US Open has already seen its share of surprises in the women's draw.

A member of the top 100 since her semifinal in Miami in March, Alexandra Eala confirmed a few months later with a final on the grass at Eastbourne, but she had not yet opened her account in a Grand Slam. That is now done thanks to a stunning victory against Clara Tauson, world number 14.

The player from the Philippines was trailing 5-1 in the third set before staging a spectacular comeback. She prevailed against the Dane (6-3, 2-6, 7-6), a semifinalist in Montreal in early August, with a score of 13-11 in the super tie-break and after five match points.

Deeply moved and strongly encouraged by the crowd, Eala became the first player from her country to win a match in a Grand Slam main draw and will continue her adventure against Cristina Bucsa or Claire Liu.

Although a bit less publicized, Janice Tjen, world number 149 and coming from the qualifiers, also made a name for herself by defeating Veronika Kudermetova (6-4, 4-6, 6-4), a semifinalist in Cincinnati just a week ago.

The Indonesian player had never before won a match on the WTA tour but has collected 13 titles on the ITF circuit over the past 15 months. She will play for a spot in the third round against Emma Raducanu, the tournament winner in 2021.

Also noteworthy is the stunning victory of Moyuka Uchijima (92nd) over Olga Danilovic (7-6, 4-6, 7-6).

The Japanese player, who had suffered 10 consecutive defeats since May, saved seven match points in the final set (3 at 3-5, 0-40, 3 more at 5-6, 0-40, and one last at 8-9 in the super tie-break) to continue her journey in New York.