'Each match is a different story': Eala on Swiatek rematch in Madrid
One month after stunning Iga Swiatek in the Miami quarterfinals, Alexandra Eala will get another shot at the World No. 2 in the Mutua Madrid Open second round. The Filipina wild card set up the rematch with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Viktoriya Tomova in 1 hour and 16 minutes to open Day 1 play.
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Eala's breakthrough run to the Miami semifinals, which also featured wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys, catapulted her into the Top 100 for the first time, and she's now at a career high of No. 72. Her 6-2, 7-5 defeat of Swiatek -- just the Pole's third loss at tour level to a player ranked outside the Top 100 -- was a seismic upset, so it's no wonder all eyes are on a sequel so soon.
Eala, who repeatedly cited "professionalism" in Miami as a key to her success, has already moved on and wiped the slate clean.
"Now that the dust has settled, I try not to think about Miami so much," she said after defeating Tomova. "Personally, of course it comes to mind when everyone’s asking -- but in my mind, I have my whole life to look back at those moments and I'll always have those memories. But the tour goes on, competition goes on, so right now I'm fully focused on Madrid."
The 19-year-old is playing her second tournament since Miami -- as top seed in last week's Oeiras WTA 125, she fell in the second round to Panna Udvardy. However, against Tomova she shrugged off that loss to deliver a performance of high-intensity aggression, firing 27 winners to her opponent's seven and converting six of her nine break point chances, to win her Madrid opener for the second year running.
Defending champion Swiatek is also seeking to shake off recent form as the 2025 clay swing kicks into high gear. She fell in last week's Stuttgart quarterfinals to eventual winner Jelena Ostapenko -- her sixth loss to the Latvian in six meetings -- and has not reached a final since Roland Garros last year. Avenging her Miami defeat at the hands of Eala on her preferred clay surface would be an important first step in Madrid.
Eala, for one, is not expecting a similar dynamic.
"I definitely think that each match is a different story," she said. "Even if it's against the same player every time -- doesn't matter if I play her at the same time next year in Miami or in Madrid next year, it's going to be a different story than the last one."
