Photo Source: TTV
Alexandra Eala cracked 27 winners and converted six breaks of serve to ease past Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, 6-3, 6-2 on Day 1 of the Madrid Open. Next up, the Filipina phenom will face defending champion Iga Swiatek just one month after she stunned the Pole in the quarterfinals at the Miami Open.
Eala, 19, is playing in her first tour-level event since said Miami Open, but she did get her feet wet on the clay last week at a 125K event in Oeiras, where she was defeated in the second round by Panna Udvardy.
The World No.72, the only player from the Phillipines to hold a Top 100 ranking, is now 5-1 on the season.
Eala says she prefers not to live in the memory of Miami – she’s firmly focused on the present in Madrid.
"Now that the dust has settled, I try not to think about Miami so much," she said after defeating Tomova, according to WTATennis.com. "Personally, of course it comes to mind when everyone’s asking — but in my mind, I have my whole life to look back at those moments and I'll always have those memories. But the tour goes on, competition goes on, so right now I'm fully focused on Madrid."
Osaka Falls at First Hurdle
Naomi Osaka fell to Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, in two hours and 21 minutes, to drop to 9-5 on the season, and 6-6 overall in Madrid. Bronzetti, into the second round for the second time in her career, will face Madison Keys next.