Eala books rematch vs Swiatek

The Eala-Swiatek 2 is on.

Alex Eala formally booked a mouthwatering rematch with world No. 2 Iga Swiatek following a 6-3, 6-2 win over Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria in the opening round of the Mutua Madrid Open at the Manolo Santana Stadium in Spain on Tuesday.

Ranked No. 72 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Eala needed one hour and 16 minutes to dispatch Tomova and try her luck again against Swiatek — the defending champion of the Madrid Open.

Aside from gaining the right to face the Polish powerhouse, Eala’s victory also boosted her morale as she was able to bounce back from a sorry 6-7, 4-6 defeat against Panna Udvardy of Hungary at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal last week.

There will be pressure on Eala when she faces Swiatek.

For one, she beat the five-time Grand Slam champion, 6-2, 7-5, in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, a win that propelled her to a career-high ranking in WTA.

But Swiatek is expected to play with fire in her eyes, especially after coming off a 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 loss to world No. 18 Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia in the Round of 16 of the Stuttgart Open in Germany last week.

Also, Swiatek has yet to win a trophy this year, making her eager and determined to rule the Madrid event in preparation for a dominant performance in the French Open next month.

Eala admitted that there are butterflies in her stomach, but she will not let it get in the way of delivering a solid performance for her fans back home.

“Of course, I’m still nervous, but that’s not what I’m thinking before the match. I still have a lot of things to think about that are more important,” said Eala, who is already assured of 30,895 euros — or roughly P2 million — for making it to the Round of 64. Should she beat Swiatek and make it to the next round, she will pocket a cool P3.4 million.