Alex Eala claimed the scalp of yet another heavyweight as she defeated world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States on her home turf, 6-2, 2-0 (ret.) in the Round of 32 of the BNP Paribas Open women’s singles event last Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
The 20-year-old Eala has been dominating when the two-time Grand Slam champion decided to throw the towel after being hampered by arm injury.
Eala, ranked No. 32 in the world, said she was happy to win in what is branded as the “fifth Grand Slam,” but seeing her friend and former doubles partner crashing with an injury is something that’s out of her control.
“It’s a difficult decision to retire from a match. I know no one likes winning like that and no one likes losing like that,” said Eala, who displayed impressive form against the 21-year-old American.
“Nevertheless, I’m really happy with how I played. I’m really happy with my performance and I hope I can make the best out of the momentum.”
Gauff is the fourth top 10 player that the Filipina had beaten.
Last year, Eala went on a tear as she shocked former world No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland en route to a semifinal appearance in the Miami Open. Recently, she took down No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the Dubai Tennis Championships last February.
Consistency playing in high-level competitions has worked wonders for Eala, especially in staying composed in tough matches.
“There’s no specific technique that I use. I think I’ve gained certain experience over the years in how to handle these high-pressure situations. Of course, it’s taken up a notch when you’re playing big players and when you’re playing on big courts, so it’s still a learning experience for me,” said Eala, who was trounced by Gauff, 6-0, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Open last month.
“What I try to do is just focus on the next thing that I have to do. I try not to think of the bigger picture and instead focus on what I can control.”
The first set showed a lot of promise as both Eala and Gauff broke each other’s serves in the first four games leading to a 2-2 scoreline. With Gauff trailing, 2-5, she received medical attention with a trainer spotted massaging her shoulder before applying a compression bandage on her left forearm.
Eala eventually held her serve in the fifth game to take a 1-0 set lead.
The Filipina continued her momentum in the second set as she held her serve before breaking Gauff’s serve for a 2-0 lead. Gauff eventually felt a “firework” inside her left arm, forcing her to stop from playing, walk to the net and congratulate her foe after just 54 minutes of play.
“I felt it, like, the second game of the first set. I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire,” said Gauff, whose two-handed backhand is usually a formidable weapon until she suffered an injury that made it ineffective against a powerful lefty like Eala.
“And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even on shots that I wasn’t even using my left arm for.”
It’s just the second time for Gauff to retire in the middle of a match. Her first was in 2022 when she rolled her ankle before bowing to Marie Bouzkova in the Cincinnati Open.
She said she will have it checked to see if she can compete in the Miami Open.
“Good news is they don’t think it’s going to be like a long-term type of situation, so I should be fine for Miami,” she said, looking ahead to the second leg of the ATP and WTA’s “Sunshine Double” that follows on the heels of Indian Wells.
“I’d rather finish the match and lose 6-0, but at that point I just felt that because the pain was getting worse and I didn’t know what was going on, I just felt it was better to stop.”
Eala said playing inside Stadium 1, which boasts of more than 16,000 spectators, is such an honor as she continues her rise on top of the tennis world.
“I really didn’t want to win this way, but this is still a really big moment for me to be able to play on Stadium 1 at Indian Wells against such a great competitor,” Eala said.
“I’m really grateful to be here and I’m super happy.”
After beating Gauff, Eala will rest and prepare for world No. 14 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in the Round of 16 on Wednesday for a victory that will put her on collision course with Paolini.
Eala, however, already bagged $105,720 -- or around P6.3 million – for reaching the Round of 16 aside from a huge boost in her ranking as the prestigious event is rated as WTA 1000 tournament.