Madrid: Alexandra Eala makes dominant start, Iga Swiatek rematch is on!
Alexandra Eala made a strong start to the Madrid Open and routinely set up a rematch against Iga Swiatek.
The Filipina, who made all the headlines last month during her sensation run to the Miami Open semifinal, also received a wildcard for the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid. And today, she easily booked a second-round spot after ousting Viktoriya Tomova 6-3 6-2.
While Eala claimed a routine win in the end, it was actually the Bulgarian who made the better start to the match and claimed the first break in the third game to open a 2-1 lead. However, the 19-year-old rising start quickly responded, earning back-to-back breaks and winning the next four games before serving out for the opener in the ninth game.
In the second set, Eala dropped her serve twice but it wasn't a big issue since she collected four breaks and still ended up easily winning in two sets.
Eala set to meet Swiatek again
Exactly a month ago, the Filipina clinched by far the biggest win of her career after stunning Swiatek 6-2 7-5 in the Miami Open quarterfinal. Now, they are set to meet again – and again in a WTA 1000 tournament – but only in a different stage.
In Miami, Eala delivered an outstanding performance and the Pole didn't hide afterward that she was surprised by the Filipina's play.
"Well, for sure, I didn't know she's going to play that flat, but besides that, well, she was really aggressive, you know, and she kept her focus. And, like, I don't know, some of these shots were pretty like out of nowhere. But still, you know, I could see clearly she has intentions to go forward and to push. So it worked for her today, for sure," Swiatek said after their Miami meeting.
The Polish five-time Grand Slam champion will surely be determined to get Eala this time and it will be interesting to see how the 19-year-old does this time with more attention on her.
