Iga Swiatek reveals edge over Alex Eala in Madrid and discusses hype around rising star
Iga Swiatek believes she was always going to have an advantage over Alex Eala on the clay courts at the Madrid Open, although she admits she initially struggled to find her rhythm at the start of their match.
Barely a month after Eala stunned five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek in the quarter-final of the Miami Open, they had a rematch at the WTA 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital.
The Pole never got going on the hard courts in the United States as she went down 2-6, 5-7 against the 19-year-old, who also beat reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys and 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko before going down to Jessica Pegula in the semi-final.
Early on in Madrid it looked like Eala would pull off another famous upset win as she broke in the opening game of the match and went on to win the first set, but Swiatek eventually settled and claimed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
The defending Madrid Open champion was always going to up her game on her favourite clay surface as she has an 88% win-loss record on the red dirt and Thursday’s win took her overall tally to 91–12.
“On clay I feel like I have a little bit more advantage sometimes in the situations, where Alex could take more advantage on faster hard courts,” Swiatek stated.
