Eala still searching for some form of stability and consistency since her historic run at the Miami Open to prove that she belongs among the best in the world
WHAT a wild ride Alex Eala is having in a tennis career that is speeding like a bullet train. She is up one day, down the next and one does not know what will happen next as her Filipino fans follow her trajectory with bated breath.
But lately, the fun and exhiliration are missing, dampened by early exits and inexplainable inconsistencies with losses coming from players below her current ranking.
Take her last outing in the French Open. She drew Emiliana Arango of Colombia for her first round match. That pairing appeared like heaven-sent. Arango has a higher ranking, 88 againsts her 69.
READ Alex Eala tumbles out of French Open in three-set loss to Arango
But during the match, Eala played like she was the underdog rather than the favorite, losing the first set 6-0. She came back strong in the second, winning it 6-2, but in the third set, she seemed to have lost her focus, maybe because the Columbian was playing with more determination and agression and Eala could not keep up.
Overall, however, Eala's record remains phenomenal. She reached 69th in the world, though that ranking slid a few notches down, she will continue to get entry to many top tier events without having to go through quaifying.
Helping her reach this stage of her career can be credited to that one magical week in the Miami Open where she got a wild card and parlayed it to the best week of her tennis life.
In one electric succession, she beat Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, Paula Badosa, and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek to reach the semifinals, where she met the end of her run at the hands of Jessica Pegula.
That streak made her a national hero, entered the country's consciousness and people no longer asked "Alex Eala who?"
Post-Miami in March, Eala climbed from No. 140 to No. 72, gaining 390 points.
Just a week later, she joined the Oeiras Ladies Open (WTA 125) and made it to the Round of 16 before losing to Panna Udvardy, 7-6(4), 6-4 — who was then ranked No. 137 in the world.
But the loss didn't matter, although it was concerning, as she earned her first direct entry to a WTA 1000 event at the Mutua Madrid Open. There, she beat Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in her opener, before losing to Iga Swiatek, who got her revenge, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.
She gained 35 points from tournament and Eala climbed two spots to No. 70.
But instead of continuing her preparation for strong tournaments ahead, she begged off from a lower-tier event at the Catalonia Open, preferring to play the tough Italian Open, where she lost her opening match to Marta Kostyuk, 0-6, 1-6. Still, she gained 10 points.
While her singles journey ended abruptly, it was a different story in the doubles where she had a surprise partner in world singles No. 2 Coco Gauff.
They won two matches and it seemed the union had legs. They reached the quarterfinals but lost to home bets Errani and Paolini in a three-set thriller.
This run improved Eala’s doubles ranking from No. 946 to No. 470 after earning 215 points.
She then arrived at the French Open with two weeks of rest. Whether that affected her game could not be determined. But her major debut was a disaster and as mentioned earlier, lost to Arango in three sets.
The following day, from No. 69 — her ranking when she entered the tournament — Eala fell four spots to No. 73, with 892 points, according to the WTA’s latest update on Monday morning, Manila time.
Search for stability
Her Roland Garros debut, though, is far from over, as she returns to action in the women’s doubles with No. 74 Renata Zarazúa of Mexico. They will face Marta Kostyuk and Elena Gabriela Ruse in the opener on Wednesday night.
In all, the 20-year old is 2-4 (win-loss) and 6-8 in sets won and lost since that wonderful week in Miami, still searching for some form of stability and consistency to prove that she belongs among the best in the world.
Hopefully, she would be able to score a few wins and get her tennis joy back.
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