Alexandra Eala has started her Madrid Open campaign with a strong performance.
The teenager enters this tournament with a level of scrutiny and expectation she has not previously experienced following her run to the Miami Open semi-finals.
She is now a top 100 player and can enter tournaments such as the Madrid Open directly, and she hit the ground running in the Spanish capital.
Eala is playing her first WTA Tour clay court event of the season and her opening round victory was a historic one.
Alexandra Eala matches Naomi Osaka feat following Madrid Open first round win
Alexandra Eala took on Viktoriya Tomova in the opening round of the 2025 Madrid Open.
She continued producing the aggressive play that brought her so much success in Miami, as she hit 27 winners against the Bulgarian.
The 19-year-old also converted six of her nine break point chances and she sealed a 6-3, 6-2 victory in one hour and 16 minutes.
Eala’s latest victory means that she is now just the second Asian teenager to claim five or more WTA 1000 match wins in a calendar year.
She follows four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who was the first Asian player to achieve this feat back in 2017.
Who will Alexander Eala play next?
Eala has reached the second round of the Madrid Open where she will play World number two Iga Swiatek.
The Pole lost to Eala at the Miami Open, but this will prove a different challenge altogether for the World number 72.
Swiatek is the defending champion in Madrid and is undoubtedly the game’s best clay-court player.
But as in Miami, Eala has nothing to lose and will once again use her fearless and attacking brand of tennis to try and defeat Swiatek once again.
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