After receiving a first-round bye, Alexandra Eala’s first opponent in Indian Wells has been confirmed.
Eala will face Dayana Yastremska, who defeated Shuai Zhang 6-3, 6-2 in the first round.
Yastremska, of Ukraine, famously knocked out Coco Gauff in the first round of Wimbledon last year, and will be hoping to upset the odds once again when she plays Eala on Friday.
Eala and Yastremska have played each other once before on the WTA Tour, at the 2025 Eastbourne Open.
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Iga Swiatek in Miami, Clara Tauson at the US Open, Jasmine Paolini in Dubai, or a different match?
Alexandra Eala beat Dayana Yastremska in their only previous meeting on the WTA Tour
Three months after her stunning run to the 2025 Miami Open semi-finals, Eala recorded her second WTA last-four appearance at the Eastbourne Open.
The Filipina, seeded eighth at the event, defeated top seed Hailey Baptiste, Lucia Bronzetti and Jelena Ostapenko; setting up a meeting with Dayana Yastremska in the quarter-finals.
Eala dominated throughout her contest with the Ukrainian, winning 6-1, 6-2 and limiting Yastremska to winning only 25 per cent of her points on second serve, as per Tennis Abstract.
Yastremska also only won 34 per cent of her first serve points, despite landing nearly 73 per cent of all attempts.
As for Eala, she made 74 per cent of her first serves, winning 54 per cent of those points. She also won almost 54 per cent of her second-serve points and converted seven of 12 break-point opportunities.
Eala went on to defeat Varvara Gracheva in the last four before suffering heartbreak against Maya Joint in the final.
Joint saved four championship points on her way to clinching a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory, capturing her second WTA Tour title.
Eala, who was in tears after the contest, said: “I want to congratulate Maya for a great match and great tournament. I think you did really well and I think if I were to lose to anyone this week it’d definitely be you so congratulations.
“This is my first WTA final – it’s a big deal for me and for my country too because it’s historic, I guess that’s also why I’m so emotional. Wimbledon is next week so hopefully I’ll forget about this match soon.”
Joint offered some kind words for Eala after clinching the title, sharing what she found ‘insane’ about the final.
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Before competing in Eastbourne, Eala took part in the Birmingham Classic and the WTA 125k in Ilkley, near Leeds.
In Birmingham, Eala was knocked out in the first round by Linda Fruhvirtova. The next week, Eala defeated Lizette Cabrera and Valentina Ryser in Ilkley, before losing to Rebecca Marino in the quarter-finals.
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Eala then competed in Nottingham, winning two qualifying matches before losing to Magda Linette in the first round of the main draw.
Eastbourne then came and went, and Eala had improved her ranking to such a degree that she was able to qualify for the Wimbledon main draw automatically.
In the first round, Eala was defeated by Barbora Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who won Wimbledon in 2024.
Eala, who lost 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, said: “I think in the first set I was able to kind of like dominate her a little bit in certain moments.
“Then in the next two sets, I think she really did kind of step up. She was hitting quite close to the line, which she was doing kind of consistently. Partly I guess because I wasn’t making her uncomfortable maybe or also because obviously she’s very skillful.
“Credit is due. Give credit where credit is due. And obviously I just need to look at my side and what I need to improve going on.”
