WHATEVER happens to Alex Eala in Round 4 set initially for Tuesday, March 24, 2026, PHL time, will either make us all happy or sad?
Doesn’t matter, really.
While a win will make us rejoice lustily once more, a loss — God forbid — would still not cause any major dent in the impact of what Eala has done thus far.
Back-to-back wins in the ongoing Miami Open in Florida, USA, have catapulted Eala to lofty heights once more, bringing joy to 110 million-plus Filipinos dying to celebrate life amid a mountain of crises at home socially, politically and even psychologically.
Drawing a first-round bye after being ranked No. 31, Eala did not disappoint as she defeated Laura Siegemund of Germany, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, in the Round of 64.
To do it, the 20-year-old Eala bucked a first-set loss, digging deep into her arsenal of shots to outlast her 38-year-old opponent in three hours and 20 minutes.
“I’m so happy to win as I was able to reach a new level of competitiveness,” said Eala, again displaying game maturity beyond her age.
She never lost her composure after seeing a 3-0 lead vanish en route to surrendering a 7-6 first-set defeat to the wily, and sometimes nasty, Siegemund.
Eala was even steadier in her Round of 32 match against Magda Linette of Poland.
Although she had bowed to Linette twice in their first two meetings in the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open and 2025 Nottingham Open, Eala has solidly recovered from those setbacks.
First, Eala bundled out Linette in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in the ASB Classic in New Zealand only last January, signaling her redemption.
And on early Sunday morning, March 22, 2026, PHL time, Eala made sure her January victory was no fluke, scoring another straight-set victory, 6-3, 7-6(2), in beating Linette, at age 34, the tournament’s second oldest competitor after Siegemund.
Eala appeared to fade when, in the second set, she lost a 3-1 lead as Linette strung up three games to surge ahead for the first time, 4-3.
But after holding serve to draw level at 4-4, Eala totally took control, forcing a 6-all deadlock and then proceeding to score a brutal 7-2 rout in the tiebreak for a 7-6 second-set win that clinched the match.
Will Eala defeat next No. 13 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in Round 4?
I can’t wait to see her win. Again.