Alex Eala advances to second round in Madrid Open

Alex Eala defeated veteran tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, advancing to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open in style.

Eala will next face Elise Mertens of Belgium, who had a bye in the first round of this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event.

The rising Filipina won the match in 1 hour and 31 minutes on Wednesday, April 22, then won the crowd over by doing part of her post-match interview in rapid-fire Spanish.

“I feel really great. I love Madrid, it’s a really great tournament,” Eala said.

‘Every match is a battle’

In Spanish, she then said she had lived for many years in Spain (where she attended the Rafa Nadal Academy since she was 13) and always felt at home there.

Eala, currently ranked 44 by the WTA, had not played against Pavlyuchenkova before yesterday’s meeting. Clay is not her favorite surface.

She reached the round of 16 in Linz, Austria, where she began her clay-court season this year.

The week after that, she lost to Leylah Annie Fernandez in their first-round meeting in Stuttgart. In last year’s Madrid Open, Eala reached the second round, where former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated her in three sets.

Alex Eala’s first win against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

“She’s been on the tour for many years, and she is a great player,” she said of Pavlyuchenkova. “At this level, every match is a battle.”

Pavlyuchenkova, 34, is currently ranked 116 in singles, although she has reached as high as No. 11.

Her favorite surface is clay, and her 12 WTA singles titles include a clay-court win in Istanbul in 2010, although Linz was still played on hard courts when she won it in 2015.

The Russian reached the French Open finals in 2021, some 15 years after she first played in a WTA main draw. Eala, for her part, first played in a WTA main draw in 2022 in Miami.

Their early-afternoon match took place in the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium at La Caja Magica.

Staying composed under pressure

Eala faced two break points on her first service game but held steady. The Filipina also earned the first break point of the match, pushing the score to 4-2 within 38 minutes.

The Russian pro put some pressure on Eala’s fourth service game, getting to 30-0 quickly.

But Eala stayed composed and held serve, for 5-3. She eventually took the first set in under 58 minutes.

Less than 15 minutes into the second seat, Eala had a double break of Pavlyuchenkova’s serve, pushing the score to 3-1.

Pavlyuchenkova broke back after Eala sent a return long.

Who’s winning in the Madrid Open so far?

But Eala quickly regained control, racing to 40-0 on the next service game and breaking the Russian’s serve, too. She then held to love, taking the lead at 5-2.

And then Pavlyuchenkova was serving to stay in the match. She served two consecutive aces and held serve, compelling Eala to serve for the match.

The Filipina won the match on the first of her two match points, after a wide return from Pavlyuchenkova.

She joined the other early winners in Madrid like her doubles partner Zeynep Sonmez, Julia Grabher, Kaitlin Quevedo, Philippine Women’s Open champion Camila Osorio, Magda Linette, Laura Siegemund, Peyton Stearns, Shuai Zhang, and Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Ruse will face WTA No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the second round.