MADRID – Alex Eala, the 19-year-old Filipino tennis prodigy, saw her Madrid Open journey cut short on April 24, falling to world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a three-set thriller that had the clay courts buzzing. The final score read 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in favor of the defending champion, but Eala’s fight was anything but a footnote.
The match kicked off with Eala swinging fearlessly. She snagged the first set 6-4, breaking Swiatek’s rhythm with sharp returns and a baseline game that refused to buckle. The crowd at Manzanares Park Tennis Center leaned in, sensing an upset brewing. Eala, ranked 148th globally, had already stunned Swiatek in Miami earlier this year, and for a moment, it looked like she might repeat the magic on clay.
Swiatek, though, is no stranger to digging deep. The Polish star, a four-time Grand Slam winner, clawed back in the second set. Eala held her own, pushing the score to 4-4 before Swiatek’s relentless groundstrokes and a few untimely errors from the Filipina tilted the set 6-4. By the third, Swiatek’s experience shone through. She surged to a 6-2 finish, leaning on her trademark topspin and court coverage to seal the win.
Eala’s run in Madrid was no small feat. She battled through qualifiers to reach the Round of 64, a testament to her grit at just 19. The match against Swiatek lasted over two hours, with Eala firing 25 winners to Swiatek’s 30, though her 35 unforced errors compared to Swiatek’s 25 proved costly.
The loss ends Eala’s Madrid campaign, but her performance sent a clear message: she’s a force to watch. Swiatek advances to the Round of 32, chasing a second straight Madrid title. For Eala, the focus shifts to upcoming tournaments, with her team eyeing more clay-court action to build on this week’s momentum.
Eala, born in Quezon City, has been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain since 2018. Swiatek, 23, holds a 25-5 record this season. The Madrid Open, a WTA 1000 event, runs through May 4.