Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion, narrowly avoided suffering another defeat to Alexandra Eala in a WTA 1000 tournament. At the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday, Swiatek staged a comeback victory, overcoming a one-set and one-break deficit to defeat the young player from the Philippines with a final score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
This match followed a surprising straight-sets loss for Swiatek against Eala in the Miami quarterfinals just last month. In Madrid, history seemed poised to repeat itself when Swiatek trailed 6-4, 3-2, a set and a break down. However, the World No. 1 found her form, winning five games in a row from 4-4 in the second set and ultimately completing the comeback in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
The victory meant Swiatek avoided her earliest exit from a WTA 1000 event since the 2021 Cincinnati Open, nearly four years ago. Furthermore, it extended her remarkable streak of winning opening matches at Hologic WTA Tour events (including United Cup and WTA Finals) to 58 consecutive wins, a run that began after a round-robin loss to Maria Sakkari at the 2021 year-end championships.
“It wasn`t easy to find my rhythm and the right timing, so I`m pleased that I remained patient,” Swiatek said post-match.
Swiatek committed 25 of her total 57 unforced errors in the challenging first set, but finished the match with 40 winners. Her performance improved significantly after the first set, particularly on serve (winning 85% of first serve points compared to under 60% in the first two sets) and return, securing seven breaks of Eala`s serve from sixteen opportunities.
Eala shared her thoughts on the match, stating, “I`m happy with the match, happy with how I competed.” She acknowledged the difficulty, “Being a set and a break up is a great position, but you must remember who is across the net, especially a multiple Roland Garros champion. She played well too… There are lessons to take from this.” Comparing the Madrid match to their previous encounter in Miami, Eala noted, “The difference, in my view, was her superior execution in crucial moments; she reached a slightly higher level than me at specific points in the match.”
In her quest for a first final appearance this season, Swiatek`s next challenge is against Linda Noskova, the 31st seed, another player who has posed difficulties for her previously. While Swiatek has won their last three encounters since losing to Noskova at the Australian Open last year, two of those victories required a deciding third set. Should Swiatek advance, she might feel some relief knowing that Jelena Ostapenko, a player she has never beaten (0-6 head-to-head), was defeated by Anastasija Sevastova during Swiatek`s match against Eala.
