MANILA, Philippines, March 22 ------ A huge win against a top-caliber foe was rewarded with an even tougher encounter in the next round. Alex Eala will face the highest profile opponent of her young career when she goes up against Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 64 of the WTA Miami Open today.
The highest ranked opponent that Eala had faced was then world No. 41 Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the opening round of the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open. In Ostapenko, the world No. 140 Eala will be up against a former Grand Slam singles and doubles champion for the first time.
Currently No. 25 in the world, Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open singles title when she prevailed over then world No. 1 Simona Halep of Romania in three sets in the finals. The following year, Ostapenko reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. The 27-year-old Latvian also made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the US Open in 2023. Reaching a career-high No. 5 in 2018, Ostapenko showed she’s still a major force in the pro circuit when she made the finals of the 2025 WTA 1000 Qatar Open last February. There, Ostapenko chalked up wins over seventh-ranked Jasmine Paolini of Italy and former No. 2 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, then triumphed in dominant fashion, 6-3, 6-1, over longtime world No. 1 and current No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the semifinals. In the finals, Ostapenko fell to Amanda Anisimova of the United States.
Ostapenko is also an accomplished doubles player, partnering with Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine to bag the 2024 US Open trophy. She also made the finals of the Australian Open doubles in 2024 and 2025. Eala pulled off a massive upset in the opening round of the Miami Open after defeating No. 73 Katie Volynets of the United States, 6-3, 7-6(3), on Wednesday, March 19. The stunner saw Eala marching to the second round of a WTA event for just the third time, following the 2021 WTA 250 Cluj-Napoca Winners Open in Romania and the 2024 WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain. The winner of the Eala-Ostapenko tussle will advance to the third round against the victor of the second-round match between 2025 Australian Open champion and world No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States and No. 36 Russian-Armenian Elina Avenesyan.
Source: rappler.com
Comments