Iga Swiatek avoided another shock defeat against Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala by fighting back to win their Madrid Open second-round match.
World number two Swiatek, who was stunned by Eala in Miami last month, won 4-6 6-4 6-2 on the Spanish clay.
A sticky start appeared to justify some pre-match talk that Swiatek might have issues dealing with her teenage opponent.
“I understand that there’s hype about these young players, but you have got to be focused on yourself,” Swiatek said afterwards.
“Honestly, I didn’t realise it, I had better things to think about.”
Swiatek lost in the Stuttgart quarter-finals last week and, having received a bye in the Madrid first round, produced some edgy groundstrokes in a poor first set.
A tally of 25 unforced errors indicated it was a performance nowhere near befitting of the WTA Tour’s dominant clay-court player of recent seasons.
Mistakes continued to come as the 23-year-old from Poland fell a break down early in the second set.
Swiatek, who is the reigning Madrid champion and has a host of ranking points to defend over the European clay swing, looked in serious trouble.
It felt like the same story as when 19-year-old Eala, then ranked outside the world’s top 100, beat her on the Miami hard courts.
But five-time major champion Swiatek refocused and realigned to break back, then took control as her improved power and precision from the baseline overwhelmed Eala.
