Eala eyes repeat over Swiatek in Madrid Open

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala of the Philippines eyes a repeat over world no. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland at the Madrid Open women's tennis round of 64 later today (Thursday).Pulling off an upset against the 5-time Grand Slam champ at the Miami Open quarterfinals, 6-2, 7-5, last month, Eala battles Swiatek once more at 8:10 p.m. here in Manila.While Eala pulling off another stunner against Swiatek is a valid belief, doing such could be far tougher knowing that the Polish player is determined to get back at the Filipino netter.Furthermore, the clay surface is Swiatek's playground -- being the defending champion of the tournament and having won four of her five major titles from the clay surface of the French Open.Ahead of their rematch, the 19-year-old Eala sang praises on the 23-year-old Swiatek."Iga is spectacular," said world no. 72 Eala in a report by Madrid Open website."She pushes you to the limit. I love her intensity and footwork, it's something I want to focus on more to see how I can learn. Her serve is very good too."While Swiatek earned a bye to start her campaign in Madrid, Eala fought and dominated in the round of 128 against world no. 64 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-2, last Tuesday.The victory forged her a rematch against Swiatek for a chance to gain significant points in the rankings just like what she did in the Miami Open.Eala defeating Swiatek in Miami and two other major winners in Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Madison Keys of the United States catapulted her from 140th to 75th in the rankings last month.With this, Eala has now gained a direct entry to the Grand Slam events as well as high-level tournaments like this Madrid tiff.It's a new world for Eala and she's trying to adapt immediately."This is all new to me. I've suddenly made a jump that has positioned me and given me a lot of exposure. I'm trying to get used to everything and feel professional," said Eala."Once you get into the locker room with the other players, I just want to feel like one of them and adapt as quickly as possible."