Alexandra Eala has a big opportunity in her next match at Indian Wells.
Eala beat Coco Gauff via retirement in her third round match at Indian Wells, with her opponent unable to complete the match due to an arm injury.
The Filipina is now into the last-16 at Indian Wells in her first appearance at the tournament, where Eala will play world number 14 Linda Noskova.
Not only will Eala have an opportunity to reach the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, but she also has the chance to end an unwanted record she has against Czech players.
Alexandra Eala has an unwanted record against Czech tennis players
This will be the first time Eala has played Noskova in her professional career, but the 12th match she has played against a player from Czechia.
Eala will not want to look at her head-to-head against Czech players before her match with Noskova, as she has lost all 11 of her previous matches.
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The most recent of those matches came at the Qatar Open last month, where Eala was beaten by teenager Tereza Valentova.
A lot of Czech players are very technically sound and have a lot of variety within their game, which has caused an aggressive baseline player in Eala big issues.
| Tournament | Czech player who beat Alexandra Eala |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2020 (ITF 15k) | Anastasia Zarycka beat Eala, 6-2 6-4 |
| Nantes 2023 (ITF 60k) | Gabriela Knutson beat Eala, 2-6 6-3 6-1 |
| Trnava 2024 (ITF 75k) | Tereza Martincova beat Eala, 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) |
| Guadalajara Open 2024 (WTA 500) | Marie Bouzkova beat Eala, 6-2 6-2 |
| Wuhan Open 2024 (WTA 1000) | Katerina Siniakova beat Eala, 6-3 6-1 |
| Jiangxi Open 2024 (WTA 250) | Marie Bouzkova beat Eala, 7-5 7-6(4) |
| Birmingham Classic 2025 (WTA 125) | Linda Fruhvirtova beat Eala, 5-7 7-6(5) 6-1 |
| Wimbledon 2025 (Grand Slam) | Barbora Krejcikova beat Eala, 3-6 6-2 6-1 |
| Canadian Open (WTA 1000) | Marketa Vondrousova beat Eala, 3-6 6-1 6-2 |
| Japan Open 2025 (WTA 250) | Tereza Valentova beat Eala, 6-1 6-2 |
| Qatar Open 2026 (WTA 1000) | Tereza Valentova beat Eala, 7-6(1) 6-1 |
While Eala is winless against Czech players as a professional player, she did beat Noskova as a junior player.
At the junior French Open tournament in 2020, Eala beat Noskova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and she will be hoping for a similar outcome as she bids to end her winless run against Czech players.
Alexandra Eala says what she thinks about Linda Noskova’s game
Eala is one of the most popular tennis players in the world right now, and one of the biggest young prospects on the WTA Tour.
However, Eala is less than a year older than Noskova, who reached her first WTA 1000 final in Beijing last year, and has already reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
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When previewing her match against Noskova, Eala praised the 21-year-old for her powerful game.
“I have not thought about that yet, if I am being completely transparent. I just got off the court,” Eala responded in her post-match press conference.
“Linda is an amazing player, very powerful, and even at such a young age, very experienced. I’m excited.
“My first fourth round in Indian Wells, so I’m going to go in with a good preparation and a lot of motivation, yeah.”
Eala will look to end her unwanted record against Czech players on Tuesday, March 10, when she plays Noskova for a place in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
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