FILIPINA teen Alex Eala is in line for a rematch with world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in her second tournament of the clay court season at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open.
To get a shot at the defending champion who she beat at the Miami Open last month, Eala must hurdle her first-round match against Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, currently the world's No. 64 ranked player who reached a high of No. 46.
READ Alex Eala set for grand slam debut at Roland Garros
Swiatek drew an opening bye and heads the fourth section of the draw that also includes No. 23 seed Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys - two other seeded players that Eala took out in the Miami dream run.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Eala and the 30-year-old Bulgarian, who holds a 0–1 head-to-head record against Swiatek, having lost to the Polish star in their only face-off back in 2019.
Eala, on the other hand, pulled off a stunning upset over Swiatek in their recent clash on hard court at the Miami Open, which saw the 19-year old get as far as the semifinals in the best result of her pro career.
Eala, now ranked No. 72 in the world, is coming off a straight-sets loss to Hungary’s Panna Udvardy in the round of 16 of her clay season debut at the WTA 125 Oeiras Open in Portugal last week.
However, the Filipina should be more comfortable in Madrid, since Spain has served as her base since enrolling at the famed Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy.
Tomova heads to Madrid also on a low following a loss to American Robin Montgomery at the Charleston Open just two weeks ago.
Their match is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:00 PM (Manila time).
A win over Tomova would earn Eala a highly anticipated rematch with Swiatek in the round of 64.
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