Eala not thinking about Miami win over Swiatek ahead of Madrid rematch
Alexandra Eala faces Iga Swiatek for the second time in two months at the Madrid Open, having shocked the world number two in Miami.
Wildcard Alexandra Eala is not getting hung up about her rematch with world number two Iga Swiatek in the Madrid Open second round, despite having beaten her in the Miami Open quarter-final just a month ago.
Eala earned the rematch after a straight-sets win over Viktoriya Tomova (6-3 6-2) on day one in the Spanish capital and, understandably, the meeting with Swiatek is on the mind of plenty.
"Now that the dust has settled, I try not to think about Miami so much," she told WTA Tennis after beating Tomova.
"Personally, of course it comes to mind when everyone's asking. But in my mind, I have my whole life to look back at those moments and I'll always have those memories. But the tour goes on, the competition goes on, so right now I'm fully focused on Madrid."
Eala's run to the last four in Miami also included victories over Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys and took her into the top 100 for the first time in her career.
3 - Alexandra Eala has equalled the best result achieved by a wild card at the Miami Open since the tournament’s inception in 1985 (semi-finals made Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018). Dream.#MiamiOpen | @MiamiOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/trRxIyKnm9
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 26, 2025
The 6-2 7-5 victory over Swiatek saw the 19-year-old equal the best result achieved by a wildcard at the Miami Open, having previously won just two WTA matches prior to the tournament.
The defeat for Swiatek, meanwhile, made it 10 straight tournaments without reaching the final of a WTA competition. For Eala, though, their recent meeting holds little relevance ahead of the next one.
"I definitely think that each match is a different story," she said.
"Even if it's against the same player every time. Doesn't matter if I play her at the same time next year in Miami or in Madrid next year, it's going to be a different story than the last one."
Despite Eala's attitude of taking nothing for granted, Swiatek does come into this in less-than-optimal form, having also lost to Ostapenko in the quarter-final of last week's Stuttgart Open.