ALEXANDRA Eala will dig into her arsenal of tactics and find out what will work best against world no. 2 Iga Swiatek.
The 19-year-old Eala will have two days to get her act together, when she and Swiatek collide in the second round of the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open Tennis Tournament women’s singles at the clay courts of La Caja Majica Stadium.
And Eala promises that this encounter will be different from that last time, when they met for the first time at the Miami Open last month.
“Iga is spectacular. She pushes you to the limit,” said Eala, after she stunned Bulgarian netter Veronika Tomova, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round on Tuesday, ahead of her Friday showdown with Swiatek.
One of Eala’s improvements is her service, something she gives credit to tennis great Rafa Nadal and what she learned through the Rafa Nadal Academy.
“I still have a lot to improve on in that regard. I’m open to advice. But it’s true that Rafa helped me with my serve and I’m seeing a big improvement,” said Eala after her match with Tomova.
Last month, the Filipina sensation scored the biggest win of her career after a shock victory over Swiatek, 6-2 7-5, in the Miami Open quarterfinal on hard court.
As they face each other again in a WTA 1000 tournament, it will be on a different stage and a different surface.
“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,” added Eala.
Playing with so much aggression, Eala unleashed 27 winners to Tomova’s seven and hit of six of her nine break point chances, to win her opening round game for the second year running.
Swiatek acknowledged how good Eala was when she competed with her Miami.
“For sure, I didn’t know she’s going to play that flat, but besides that, well, she was really aggressive, you know, and she kept her focus,” said Swiatek.
The 23-year-old Swiatek is seeking to find her form as she fell in last week’s Stuttgart quarterfinals to eventual winner Jelena Ostapenko.
It was her sixth loss to the Latvian in six meetings.