“Oczywiście, że miała zamiary…” – Agresywna gra Alexandry Eala brutalnie zaskoczyła Igę Świątek, co doprowadziło do bolesnej porażki w Miami.
“Mimo że w Miami zmierzyły się ze sobą po raz pierwszy, łączy je interesująca historia. Sięga ona roku 2023, kiedy to Eala ukończyła Akademię Rafaela Nadala na Majorce. A zgadnijcie, kto wygłaszał przemówienie na zakończenie? Oczywiście Iga Świątek. Nawet mają wspólne zdjęcie z Rafaelem Nadalem. Dwa lata temu Świątek nie mogła przypuszczać, że ta młoda tenisistka tak ją zaskoczy w profesjonalnym meczu. Po niespodziewanej porażce Świątek wyjawiła, co mogło pomóc Eali w zwycięstwie.”
During a press conference, dated March 26, she said, “I didn’t know she’s going to play that flat, but besides that, well, she was really aggressive, you know, and she kept her focus. And, like, I don’t know, some of these shots were pretty like out of nowhere.” Continuing further, she added, “But still, you know, I could see clearly she has intentions to go forward and to push. So it worked for her today, for sure.”
Prior to the Pole, she also beat Jelena Ostapenko and then Madison Keys in second and third round, respectively. Against Keys, Eala managed to get her first win over a top-10 player. It’s interesting to note that Eala hadn’t even beaten a top-40 player until Miami. Meanwhile, for Swiatek, it was just her third career loss against a player ranked outside top 100.
Eala received an unexpected advantage in the fourth round, advancing via walkover due to Paula Badosa’s injury, which provided her with additional rest leading into the quarterfinals. And when she won it, Eala seemed teary-eyed and had no words to describe the feeling. “I’m in complete disbelief right now, I’m on cloud nine,” said an ecstatic Alexandra Eala becoming the first player from the Philippines to reach a semi-final at tour level .
Trying to catch her breath, being in tears of joy, she revealed in an on-court interview, “It’s so surreal. I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage … My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can, because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win.”
Later, in a post-match conference, she added, “I don’t have a lot of experience on the WTA Tour, that’s for sure” while giving credit to compartmentalization as a key to success. “I have experience with being professional. I have no hesitation to bring that part of me out when I’m on court and when I’m in a setting that calls for professionalism.”
Ahead of her much-important SF clash on Friday against Jessica Pegula, the Filipino received a huge motivation as well. Her idol and former ATP legend Rafael Nadal admired her on social media!
“I would love to think that I make a difference,” Eala said of her ambitions when she plays. “That’s the only thing I can do to give back to my country is to help inspire, to inspire change and positive change, to inspire people to pick up a racket, to watch more tennis, watch more women’s tennis.”
