Madrid, April 25 (H.S.): Poland’s star tennis player Iga Swiatek avenged her loss to the Philippines’ emerging star Alex Eala by defeating her in an exciting second-round match of the Madrid Open, with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. This victory felt like a revenge for Swiatek after her crushing defeat by Eala at the Miami Open last month.
In the beginning of the match, Eala displayed excellent gameplay, breaking Swiatek’s serve and taking the first set 6-4. However, Swiatek utilized her experience to regain control of the game, winning the next two sets with scores of 6-4 and 6-2, and securing the match.
Alex Eala had garnered attention by defeating Swiatek in straight sets at the Miami Open. In that tournament, she also triumphed over Grand Slam winners like Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys. However, her journey ended in the semifinals against Jessica Pegula. Thanks to this performance, she became the first Filipina player to break into the top 100 and is currently ranked 72nd.
World number 2 and defending champion Swiatek has reached three semifinals this year (Australian Open, Indian Wells, and another tournament) but has yet to make it to a final. Last week in Stuttgart, she suffered a defeat against Jelena Ostapenko in three sets.
In other matches, Andreeva and Nishikori shine
In the women’s category, Russia’s Mira Andreeva secured her spot in the third round by defeating Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-4. Brazil’s Bia Haddad Maia defeated Pera 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
In the men’s category, Japan’s former world number 4 Kei Nishikori achieved his 450th tour-level victory by beating Alexander Vukic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. He commented, I didn’t realize it. I just play one match at a time… It has been an 18-year journey, and I hope to reach 500. His next match will be against 29th seed Denis Shapovalov.
In other men’s matches, David Goffin had to retire while trailing 1-0 in the third set against Alexander Muller. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Sonego advanced to the next round by defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
