THE stakes continue to rise as Alex Eala and 13th seed Karolina Muchova set up a first-ever meeting in the fourth round of the Miami Open after coming through with straight-set wins on Sunday (Manila time).
Eala, seeded No. 31 and ranked a career-best No. 29 in the world, powered past unseeded Magda Linette, 6-3, 7-6, to come within two wins of matching her historic semifinal finish in this WTA 1000 tournament last year.
READ Alex Eala beats Magda Linette to reach round of 16 at Miami Open
On the other hand, Muchova put away Katie Boulter, 6-3, 7-5, to stay on track in her hunt for a third WTA-level trophy to add to her victories in the Korea Open back in 2019 and most recently at the Qatar Open this year.
Eala has a WTA 125 title to her name, lifting the trophy in Guadalajara Open 125. Her best finish this season is a quarterfinal appearance at the Dubai Open and she got as far as the round of 16 of Indian Wells' WTA 1000 tournament.
She lost to world No. 4 Coco Gauff in Dubai and to world No. 14 Linda Noskova at the Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
In terms of style, Eala has found success as an aggressive baseliner, looking to take the ball early and dictate rallies, while Muchova feeds off a more versatile, all-court game that uses a variety of shots to break rhythm.
“Being aggressive is really part of my game," Eala said after the win over Lidette. "I have an amazing team that helped me take it to the next level. I think I’ve matured a lot in the past year, I’ve been putting in a lot of high-pressure moments.”
Their fourth-round match, scheduled for either March 23 of 24 [Manila time], will be their first head-to-head encounter. The exact time is still to be determined.
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