Alexandra Eala’s Stuttgart Open campaign has come to an end at the very first hurdle.
On Tuesday, Leylah Fernandez comfortably defeated the Filipina 6-1, 6-4 at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.
Fernandez had to fight through some nerves towards the end of the contest: she led Eala 5-2 in the second set, but was pegged back to 5-4 and found herself at 0-30 on her own serve.
Will Alex Eala ever win a Grand Slam title?
However, Fernandez quickly maintained her composure, winning four consecutive points to close out the match.
Following the contest, Fernandez revealed what her coach had told her while 0-30 down in the final game of the match.
Leylah Fernandez’s coach said Alex Eala ‘would not go down easy’
“Honestly, it’s what my coach told me at 0-30, 5-4,” Fernandez said during her post-match interview, as broadcast by Sky Sports.
“He said, ‘she’s not going to go down easy as you can see. She’s going to fight. You’re going to have to take the match.’
“So I was glad that I trusted him and I trusted the training that we’d done. So, happy to get the win here.”
It was an excellent performance by Fernandez, who has struggled to find her best form at the start of this year.
The Canadian served three aces during the match – one of these being at 30-30 in the final game – and won 71 per cent of her first-serve points.
Leylah Fernandez’s projected path to the Stuttgart Open title
- Round One: defeated Alexandra Eala 6-1, 6-4
- Round Two: Jasmine Paolini or Zeynep Sonmez
- Quarter-finals: Elena Rybakina
- Semi-finals: Iga Swiatek / Mirra Andreeva
- Final: Coco Gauff / Elina Svitolina
The former US Open finalist also converted four of her eight break-point opportunities and won 61.5 per cent of points on Eala’s second serve.
“It was definitely a very, very high performance,” Fernandez said. “I’d say seven out of 10.
“It was eight, nine out of 10 until 6-1, 5-2. But, you know, there’s always that little lapse of concentration.
“I’m just glad that I stayed positive as much as possible and of course the crowd helped me so, dankeschon.”
Fernandez will move on and play fifth seed Jasmine Paolini or Zeynep Sonmez in the Stuttgart Open second round.
Eala, meanwhile, has now lost two of her three clay matches this year after reaching the Linz Open round of 16 last week.
Eala will now look ahead to the Madrid Open, which begins on April 20.
What does Alexandra Eala need to improve in 2026 to challenge for a Grand Slam title?
Leylah Fernandez says playing Alex Eala was like competing against a ‘mirror image’ of herself
Later in the on-court interview, Fernandez was asked whether playing Eala was like competing against a ‘mirror image’ of herself.
Fernandez and Eala are both excellent left-handed counter-punchers who enjoy playing fast-paced tennis.
“Oh man, 100 per cent [it was like playing a mirror image], Fernandez said.
“I remember watching her [Eala] play a couple years back at the Rafa Nadal Academy, and she was playing super fast and I remember telling my coach at the time, ‘wow, she plays quick.’
“So it was like a mirror because [as] you said ‘it’s exactly like you.’ So just enjoy, figure it out and have fun.”
