MUCH like everyone else, Alex Eala could hardly believe it when she defeated three grand slam champions last month in Miami.
Now she has a chance to prove the victories are no fluke.
Despite her growing self-belief after upsets over No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 5 Madison Keys, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek en route to a historic semifinal finish at the Miami Open, Eala believes she still has a lot more to prove to herself and her fans.
READ Alex Eala breezes past Tomova, sets Madrid rematch with Swiatek
That begins in the second round of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open on Thursday (8:10 p.m., Manila time), when the Filipina teen has a chance to prove that her victory over Swiatek in Miami weeks ago is no fluke.
“Iga is an all-court player,” said Eala as quoted by the Tour website. “I think that she plays well on hard, she plays well on clay.
"But I definitely think that each match is a different story. 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.”
Their last meeting came on the hard courts of Miami, where Eala stunned Swiatek 6-2, 7-5, leaving the head-to-head at 1-0 in favor of the Filipina.
However, the situation is entirely different on clay as Swiatek, 23, not only is the defending champion in Madrid, but the Polish ace also owns four French Open titles and has the best record on the surface among all active women players at 90-12.
“I guess we’ll see,” Swiatek said in press conference, as quoted by the WTA website. “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.”
Swiatek has a 13-2 record in Madrid's clay courts.
World No. 72 Eala, despite her youth, has also shown promise on clay, having won seven of her 10 ITF junior titles on the same surface.
That form and confidence she showed in a breezy 6-3, 6-2 win over Bulgaria’s world No. 64 Viktoriya Tomova in her tournament debut on Tuesday,
For Swiatek, this marks her tournament opener after receiving a first-round bye.
She is coming off a loss to Ostapenko in the quarterfinals of last week’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix—another reason the Polish star is expected to come out swinging in her grudge match against Eala.
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