SURVIVING a barrage of power hits and long rallies, Alex Eala outlasted Dayana Yastremska, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, to storm into the Round of 32 of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and set up a rematch with world No. 4 Coco Gauff.
In her debut match at the desert tournament, the 20-year-old Filipina and world No. 32 and 31st-seed showed grit in a gripping three-set duel against the world No. 52 Ukrainian that stretched to two hours and 43 minutes.
The deciding set was tight from start to finish. The two were locked at 4-4 and again at 5-5 before Eala fired an ace at 40 to move ahead 6-5. Momentum swung both ways in the tense 11th game, but the pride of the Philippines eventually held her nerve to close out the victory.
The win improved Eala’s head-to-head record against Yastremska to 2-0, following her earlier triumph over the Ukrainian in Eastbourne last year.
Next up is a reunion with Gauff, who eliminated Eala in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the former's last tournament before the opening leg of the 'Sunshine Double.'
The American advanced with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova.
Both Gauff and Eala received first-round byes for being among the tournament’s 32 seeded players.
Indian Wells marks Eala’s seventh tournament of the season after campaigns in Auckland, the Australian Open, the Philippine Women’s Open, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Dubai.
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