After shaking hands with McNally, the Filipina ace immediately returned to her bench, visibly drained after the grueling three-set battle
Typhoon Alex sweeps Toronto Alexandra Eala stretches every sinew to fire back a return gainst American Caty McNally, locked in a high-stakes exchange on day six of the National Bank Open in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
MATTHEW STOCKMAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The effects of playing consecutive matches with little time to rest finally caught up with Alex Eala. But the 21-year-old still emerged victorious over world No. 70 Caty McNally of the United States, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, in the Round of 32 of the Canadian Open before a sold-out Sobeys Stadium on Saturday in Toronto.
But unlike her usual celebrations after a hard-fought victory, Eala had little energy left after sealing the match point. After shaking hands with McNally, the Filipina ace immediately returned to her bench, visibly drained after the grueling three-set battle.
Still, Eala assured that she would do everything possible to recover as she prepares for another tough assignment in the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 tournament.
“Yeah, I needed to push a lot. I’m as tired as one can be at this stage. You can imagine, a lot of matches. But, you know, that’s the job,” Eala said.
“I’m ready. I’m excited for another match. I’m going to do my best to recover and, you know, start again from zero.”
Eala has been on a relentless schedule since the start of her North American hard-court swing, playing eight consecutive matches in singles and doubles over the past two weeks.
The stretch began with her title-winning campaign at the Washington Open, where she defeated a string of top players before beating world No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the championship match.
She then immediately flew to Toronto for the Canadian Open, where she opened her campaign with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Alycia Parks before outlasting McNally, her second straight American rival.
The physical toll became apparent against McNally when Eala suffered a minor injury scare in the second set when she rolled her ankle while leading 3-2.
Fortunately, the issue was not serious.
“Yeah, I kind of rolled my ankle in that second set. Like, I hit the forehand and I landed kind of wrong. I called the physio. I think I was a little, I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what happened,’ because it happened so fast,” Eala said.
“But luckily there’s nothing wrong with it, and there were no serious problems. Today was physical, it pushed me a lot. I have a lot of matches in the bag. But that goes for good and bad.”
Despite the fatigue, Eala credited McNally for pushing her to her limits in their first meeting.
The American even shared a heartfelt message with Eala after the match.
“I think there was a huge mutual respect for the great match that we had. She told me congratulations, and she said, ‘Thanks for letting me be a part of this,’ which is incredibly kind and gracious from her,” Eala said.
With a one-day break to recover, Eala will now turn her attention to another formidable opponent in world No. 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the Round of 16 on Monday.
Bencic booked her place in the Last 16 after eliminating world No. 110 Taylor Townsend of the United States.
A victory over Bencic could set up another blockbuster quarterfinal showdown for Eala against world No. 4 Coco Gauff.
The two have split their two meetings this year, with Gauff beating Eala in the Dubai Tennis Championships last February before the Filipina returned the favor at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last March.
For Eala, however, the immediate challenge is simple: recover, reset and find enough energy for another battle.
