How Does Alex Eala Measure Up to Iga Swiatek? Here are the Stats

On Thursday, March 27, Filipino tennis player Alex Eala faces second seed and world no. 2 Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek at the quarterfinals of the Miami Open. This, after the tenth seed Spanish Paula Badosa withdrew from her fourth-round match with Eala owing to lower back injury.

Even before Eala’s quarterfinals appearance, the 19-year-old already made history, becoming the first Filipino tennis player to beat, not just one but, two Grand Slam champions — Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys — in the second and third round. 

In the widely anticipated matchup with Swiatek — who also trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain — Eala faces a tough challenge, considering the 23-year-old Pole is a five-time Grand Slam champion and a former champion at the WTA 1000 event in Miami in 2022. 

What Will It Take for Eala to Beat Swiatek?

Swiatek, in a post-match interview after winning the third round against the Belgian Elise Mertens, said, the hard courts of Miami are faster and that, in her opinion, it has gotten even faster since the last time she played there. The Pole noticeably had a minor struggle getting through the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the fourth round, a match that went on for more than two hours and well beyond midnight. Despite a close first set that finished at 7-6(5), Swiatek overcame what she called a “tough problem to solve” by the second set, wrapping it up at 6-3.

Getting past Swiatek will be a big undertaking for Eala, for a couple of reasons. One being that Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, is known for her agility on court. Eala said one of the changes she had to implement in training included speed. “Physically, I’ve made a huge step,” she said in an interview with NewsWatch Plus PH. “I really focused on building my endurance, my physique. My legs are moving much faster.”

Eala has earned the respect of her opponents, including Keys, for her ability to absorb even the hardest shots and using that power to her advantage. One of Swiatek’s weapons on court is her blistering topspin forehand, one of the best among female players at around 3,200 revolutions per minute, according to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) website. Eala would be dealing with a lot of those. But even if she can whip up a good serve, Swiatek has one of the best return games. 

This is the first time the two will be facing each other (although Eala remembers being hitting partners with Swiatek once in Mallorca at the Nadal Academy and on another occasion in Miami). Considering the Pole’s Grand Slam experience, it’s looking a lot like a one-sided match going the way of Swiatek. Then again, they’ve never really played each other and Eala is having a moment, which in itself is already an exciting proposition.

To further look at the odds of this match, here’s a breakdown of Eala and Swiatek’s statistics from the WTA website:

Eala VS. Swiatek