Iga Swiatek on Thursday had the answers against teenage sensation Alexandra Eala.
After a quarter-final loss to the rising star from the Philippines last month in Miami, Swiatek rallied to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory in the second round of the Madrid Open.
The second-ranked Swiatek, who is the defending Madrid champion, is trying to reach her first final of the season.
Photo: AP
“On clay I feel like I have a little bit more advantage sometimes in the situations, where Alexandra could take more advantage on faster hard courts,” the four-time French Open champion said. “I understand that there’s hype about these young players, but you got to be focused on yourself.”
The 19-year-old Eala, a product of Rafael Nadal’s academy, defeated Swiatek in straight sets during her breakthrough run in Miami.
Eala broke Swiatek’s serve early and cruised to victory in the first set at the Caja Magica center court, but the former No. 1 regained her control for the rest of the match, taking advantage of a letdown by her young opponent.
Photo: AP
“From the beginning I didn’t play smoothly, but I managed to solve some problems,” said the 23-year-old Swiatek, who was a set and a break down before rallying to victory.
Swiatek has made three semi-final appearances this year, including at the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Open. She lost her second match in Stuttgart, Germany, last week, falling against Jelena Ostapenko in three sets.
Before beating Swiatek in Miami, the left-handed Eala had also defeated two other Grand Slam winners — Ostapenko and Madison Keys. Her run ended in the semi-finals after a loss to Jessica Pegula.
The last-four appearance in Miami allowed Eala to become the first Filipina to be ranked inside the top 100. She is currently the No. 72.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff got off to a poor start, but came back to defeat Dayana Yastremska 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in their second-round match.
It was only the second time Gauff won after losing the first set 6-0 in WTA-level events. She had done it against Elise Mertens four years ago.
The fourth-ranked Gauff needs two more victories to reach the quarter-finals for her best appearance in five outings in Madrid. She next faces fellow American Ann Li, who defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Elsewhere, world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, who is to turn 18 on Tuesday, reached the third round by defeating Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-4, while Brazil’s Bia Haddad Maia rallied to beat Bernard Pera 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
In the women’s doubles, Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova and American partner Peyton Stearns beat Taiwanese Wu Fang-hsien and Russian partner Anna Blinkova 6-7 (8/6), 6-2, 10-4.
In the men’s side, former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori defeated Alexsandar Vukic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for his 450th tour-level win. The 64th-ranked Japanese was a 2014 finalist in Madrid.
“I had no idea,” the 35-year-old Nishikori said about his milestone. “I just try to play one match at a time. It’s a lot, yes... I have played for 18 years now, hopefully I can reach 500 [wins].”
He plays 29th-seeded Denis Shapovalov in the second round.
Joao Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian who has become a sensation on tour this year, defeated Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-3 on center court to set up a second-round meeting against 11th-seeded Tommy Paul.
“I know it’s going to be a difficult match,” Fonseca said. “I already practiced with him once. Yeah, excited for the match.”
Fonseca would go for his third top-20 victory. He defeated No. 9 Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open and No. 20 Ugo Humbert in Miami.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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