Alex Eala did not simply ace her opening day assignment — she sent an early warning, proving that she’s ready to make a deep run in the women’s singles event of the US Open.

The 21-year-old Filipina carved out her first masterpiece, hammering a 6-1, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Mary Stoiana on Wednesday morning (Manila time) at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.

Seeded No. 17 in the final Grand Slam event of the year, the world No. 18 Eala was simply impressive as she controlled the baseline while keeping Stoiana under constant pressure before wrapping up the easy victory in just 78 minutes of action.

Eala said she feels “different” compared to how she performed last year when she suffered a second-round exit following a dismal loss to then-world No. 16 Clara Tauson of Denmark.

“It felt different, definitely. But not to say that one was more challenging than the other. It’s just different circumstances,” said Eala, who was showered with love and adulation by a huge Filipino crowd that filled up the 14,000-seater stadium that is located inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

“It was my first time playing on one of the main stadiums here at the US Open, and it was very loud — especially when the roof is closed.”

The venue may have presented a major challenge, but Eala showed very little sign of being overwhelmed. Her serve, in particular, stood out as she consistently got ahead in points and prevented Stoiana from finding any rhythm.

“I think I served pretty well. The serve is just a constant effort and constant work — trying to improve,” Eala said.

Standing between Eala and a first-ever third-round appearance at the US Open is Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine, whom she faced at the Strasbourg Open earlier this year with the Filipina suffering a bruising 6-3, 5-7, 3-6 loss in the Round of 32.

But with several months of development behind her, and a fresh boost in her ranking, Eala believes that their previous encounter will have little bearing on their upcoming rematch.

“Yes, it was a really good match. I mean, very intense and quite tight,” said Eala, bracing for an all-out war against the 25-year-old Kyiv native who reached the third round of the French Open last June.

“I think looking back at that match, there are a lot of things that I could have done better and that I’ve been working on since then. It’s been a couple of months, and I think I’ve developed a lot in those months.”