Eala pleased with Miami bid, braces for clay season

Alex Eala remains grateful for her run at the Miami Open despite falling short of matching her historic semifinal appearance from the previous year.

The 20-year-old Filipina, currently ranked No. 29 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), expressed satisfaction with her performance following a string of solid results on hard courts this season.

Eala exited the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament following a 0-6, 2-6 loss to world No. 14 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the Round of 16 at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I leave Miami still happy. If you look at my year, my results were good,” Eala told US-based reporter TJ Manotoc.

“Quarterfinals in Dubai, fourth round in Indian Wells, and fourth round in Miami. If you had told me this last year, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

She added that she is glad to have handled the pressure that resulted to a solid performance.

“There was definitely a little added pressure here — more from myself than anything. But I handled it quite well,” the Rafael Nadal Academy alumna stressed.

Eala said she plans to take a brief hiatus before shifting her focus to the clay court swing.

“I think I do deserve a break. I’ll take a couple of days off... then I’ll get back to work to prepare well for the clay season,” said Eala, who will open her clay campaign at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open that will be held at the Design Center Linz from 9 to 16 April.

Although Eala has flourished on hard courts, she admitted that there still is a learning curve to mastering the “red dirt” at the elite level.

“In Linz, I’ll start the European clay season, and I’m really excited. That is one surface where I definitely have a lot of room for improvement,” Eala added.

Despite a projected dip in the rankings to No. 45 in the coming days, Eala’s schedule remains packed with high-level competition.

From Austria, Eala is set to see action in the Madrid Open from 21 April to 4 May and the Italian Open from 4 to 18 May in preparation for the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris from 17 May to 8 June, where she hopes to secure her first main-draw win after a first-round exit against Emiliana Arango last year.

“After a great win, I’m not all that good, and after a bad loss, I’m not all that bad. I have to look at it objectively,” she said.

“It’s important to stay even-keeled and not be too up and down. I give the same effort, the same focus... today it just didn’t turn out as well.”