19-year-old Filipino Alexandra Eala has been a breath of fresh air this season. Formerly plying her trade on the ITF Tour, Eala enjoyed a massive breakout performance at the Miami Open.
2025 ATP/ WTA Tour
Masters 1000/ WTA 1000
Italian Open
Foro Italico, Rome, Italy (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Round of 128 Matches- 7th May
WTA 1000
Alexandra Eala 2.15 vs Marta Kostyuk 0.34
She played wonderful front-foot tennis in Miami, beating three Grand Slam champions- Swiatek, Ostapenko and Keys- en route to a semifinal berth (where she pushed Jesscia Pegula to three sets). She got her Madrid campaign off to a positive start, thrashing Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-2. That was a significant victory, making her only the 2nd Asian teenager- after Osaka- to win five or more WTA 1000 matches in the same season. She then pushed Swiatek to the limits once again, going down in three sets to the Pole in another compelling display. Eala seems to have the makings of a top ten player. The lefty has a massive forehand that allows her to take the initiative in points. She has excellent movement and keeps opponents off balance with strategic shot selection.
Kostyuk’s quarterfinal run in Madrid gave her a much-needed boost, helping her rise from 35 to 26 in the live WTA rankings (probably guaranteeing herself a seeding at the French Open). The exciting Ukrainian rose into the top 20 with some excellent performances in the first half of last season. Her form dipped in the latter portion of the season and she struggled in the opening salvos of this campaign, facing back-to-back first round defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide. Those results really set the tone for the campaign. A runner-up in Stuttgart last year, Kostyuk lost a considerable amount of rankings points when she wasn’t able to compete in this year’s event due to injury. But she looked back to her effervescent best in Madrid, winning three matches before going down to Sabalenka in two hard-fought tiebreaks. I think that the Ukrainian will take plenty of encouragement from that quarterfinal defeat to Sabalenka. She was able to withstand the Belarusian’s awesome power, going toe-to-toe with her in the crosscourt exchanges
The Verdict: Kostyuk to win in straight sets at 0.84- This will be their first career meeting. I think that Kostyuk should feel emboldened by that performance in Madrid. These courts are quite a bit slower, and her natural variety should give her an edge over the Filipino youngster. Having said that, this will be their first meeting and that always creates a slight degree of mystery.
