She sweeps Poland’s Magda Linette in two sets
I CAN’T STOP, it won’t stop.
The consistent Alexandra “Alex” Eala stormed back to another Round of 16 stage, beating Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) at the Miami Open in front of a roaring Filipino crowd at the Hard Rock Stadium Grandstand on Sunday.
Ms. Eala, WTA No. 29, recovered from a second-set meltdown with a dominant 7-2 rally in the tiebreaker to complete another sweep of the Polish veteran in a duel between youth and experience in one hour and 48 minutes.
The 20-year-old Filipina beat 34-year-old Ms. Linette, the WTA No.
Ms Eala, a wildcard who shocked the tennis world last year to become the first Filipina WTA semi-finalist in Miami, is the No. 31 seed at a major tournament after her meteoric rise that included a last 16 finish at the Indian Wells Open billed as the “Fifth Grand Slam” last week.
She is two wins away from retaining her place in the world’s Top 30 and regaining a huge haul of the 390 ranking points she earned following her impressive performance in the final round of the WTA Tour’s 1000 ranking when it expires this week.
And she will try to get closer to that coveted bid against world number 14 Karolina Muchova of Czechia on Monday (Manila time) to reach the quarterfinals. The 29-year-old Ms Muchova, the 13th seed in Miami, had a 6-3, 7-5 win over 67-year-old Katie Boulter of Great Britain.
The victory of Ms. Eala will set the stage against fellow up-and-comers No. 9 Victoria Mboko of Canada or No. 10 Mirra Andreeva of Russia after their easy wins in Round 3. Ms. Mboko, 19, defeated Anastasia Zakharova of Russia, 6-1, 7-5, and Ms. Andreeva, 6-7-18 Czechoslova 6-2.
In the final four, it would be his best friend at No. 4 Coco Gauff or No.
“I’m back at 4th all around, it makes me feel the way I did last year. I am very happy. I’m so excited. It’s an honor to be back in Miami,” said Ms. Eala, taking it one game at a time without thinking about the huge pressure of securing her ranking points to stay in the Top 30.
After her ranking points expired, Ms. Eala is currently at No. 44 from the bottom as in No. 50 in the WTA live rankings after returning 120 of those 390 points held in three wins so far.
As a 31st seed, she made it through the first round before a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-3 Round of 64 win over No. 53 Laura Siegemund of Germany.
He rode the momentum of that back-and-forth duel that lasted three hours and 20 minutes in the longest match of his career, looking “fresh as a flower” as he unleashed the kick to make it 4-1 to Ms.
Mrs. Eala appeared to be headed for a cruise in the second and started strongly in the second, 3-1, but Ms. Linette proved her worth as the second-round killer of world No. 3 and Miami No. 1 seed. 2 Iga Swiatek, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, with a 5-2 blitz to take the set 6-5.
The lefty ace then served 12th dragging the duel into overtime, where he just stamped his class marked by three break points to win 7-2.
Last year, Ms. Eala beat three Grand Slam champions and 20 players in the Top 20 in Ms.
And despite the completely different landscape now as one of the world’s stars from being an unknown player last year, nothing can stop the pride of the Filipina. – John Bryan Ulanday
