Alex Eala survives Indian Wells Open debut to arrange Coco Gauff rematch

Alex Eala has made a habit of keeping fans on the edge of their seats.

It was no different in her Indian Wells Open debut as Eala beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska by the skin of her teeth, hacking out a gutsy 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win in the round of 64 on Friday, March 6 (Saturday, March 7, Manila time).

The 20-year-old Eala displayed steely resolve on the brink of defeat as she overcame a 4-5 deficit in the third set to reach the third round of the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament dubbed as the “fifth Grand Slam” after receiving a first-round bye as one of the 32 seeded players.

Energized by a sizable Filipino crowd at Stadium 3, Eala improved her head-to-head record against Yastremska to 2-0 after she swept the Ukrainian, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Eastbourne Open in Great Britain, where the Filipina fell just inches short of her first WTA Tour crown.

This time, though, Yastremska — ranked 52nd in the world — proved tougher as she avoided another straight-sets defeat and even moved on the cusp of an upset when she blanked Eala in the ninth game of the third set to go up 5-4.

But Eala regained her bearings, breaking Yastremska to pull level at 5-5, then holding serve to surge ahead at 6-5. 

It then took six nerve-racking deuces in the 12th game before Eala wrapped up the match in 2 hours and 43 minutes, with Yastremska seeing her hopes of advancing dashed following an unforced forehand error.

Eala then pumped her fist in celebration as fans showered her with applause.

However, it does get easier for Eala as she arranged another clash with world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States in the round of 32.

Just a little over two weeks ago, the two-time Grand Slam champion gave Eala the boot in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, another WTA 1000 tournament, by way of a commanding 6-0, 6-2 victory. 

Gauff advanced after a sweeping Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3, 7-6 (5). – Rappler.com