Nineteen-year-old Alexandra Eala displays remarkable composure, especially considering she recently astonished the tennis world – and herself – with her performance in Miami last month. She arrived at that hard-court tournament ranked No. 140, having never defeated a Top 100 player at a WTA Tour event. Yet, she remarkably beat three Grand Slam champions – Jelena Ostapenko (ranked 25), Madison Keys (ranked 5), and Iga Swiatek (ranked 2) – on her path to the semifinals.
While Eala certainly believed she had the capability to beat Top 100 players, the scale of her wins was genuinely surprising.
“What was quite a shock to me was that I won against Top 10 and Top 5 players,” Eala commented on Tuesday. “So [it was a] happy shock, of course. But the mindset is still, especially before matches, that you can beat them.”
She will need to tap into that same mindset on Thursday afternoon for her second-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open. After securing a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Viktoriya Tomova in the first round, she faces a swift rematch against Iga Swiatek. Swiatek holds the best winning percentage (.882, 90-12) among active players on clay.
“Iga is an all-court player,” Eala noted. “I think that she plays well on hard, she plays well on clay.”
However, she emphasized that every match is a new situation, even against a familiar opponent. “Each match is a different story. Even if it’s against the same player every time… it’s going to be a different story than the last one [in Miami].”
Their previous meeting in Miami was a stunning 6-2, 7-5 win for Eala. The relatively unknown left-hander seemed to thrive on the element of surprise. She broke Swiatek`s serve multiple times in the first set and maintained pressure throughout. Swiatek herself acknowledged that Eala “went all out” and hit the ball “so flat,” contributing to an uncharacteristic 32 unforced errors from the world No. 1.
Competing on clay against the four-time Roland Garros champion presents a different challenge. Swiatek has a strong record in Madrid, winning 13 out of 15 matches, while Eala has only played one match here prior to this tournament.
“I guess we’ll see,” Swiatek said during her Tuesday press conference when asked about the rematch. “I feel like I know this place pretty well so I’m going to for sure use the experience – but the experience doesn’t play, though.”
When asked about opponent attributes she admired, Eala cited Aryna Sabalenka`s serve and two specific qualities of Swiatek.
“I love her intensity and her footwork,” Eala stated. “I think that’s something I could really improve on, observe and try to emulate in my game.”
Despite the sudden wave of attention following her Miami success, Eala is working hard to maintain perspective. She mentioned feeling encouraged by 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu reaching out to her.
“I feel like she’s been in a similar position,” Eala said, referring to Andreescu`s own major win at age 19 and the subsequent challenges she`s faced (Andreescu hasn`t advanced past the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam since that victory).
Life has undeniably changed for the graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. Her ranking has climbed significantly to world No. 72. While a loss in a WTA 125 event might have gone unnoticed a year ago, her recent second-round defeat in Oeiras, Portugal, led some observers to question if Miami was a fluke.
“A lot of external factors have changed – more eyes on me, there’s more exposure,” Eala acknowledged. “But in the day-to-day, how I feel internally, nothing has changed much. Because the work ethic has always been there, my team has been so down to earth, keeping me grounded.”
Eala sees Miami as an inspiration but is actively trying to move past the experience, despite constant questions and comments.
“In my mind, I have my whole life to look back at those moments and I’ll always have those memories,” she explained. “But the tour goes on, competition goes on, so right now I’m fully focused on Madrid.”
And Swiatek, in turn, will be entirely focused on Eala. She will refine her tactical plan with coach Wim Fissette and step onto Manolo Santana Stadium knowing she is arguably the world`s best player on this surface. But will that guarantee her an advantage in this rematch?
“I haven’t started the tournament yet, so you best need to let me go on court and feel what I feel, you know?” Swiatek responded. “I’m probably going to be able to answer that question afterwards.”
She concluded, “I’m not going to predict anything, like I`m not a wizard. So I’ve got to approach this match like any other match – it doesn’t really matter what happened in Miami.”
Rupert Caldwell