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Alex Eala is yet to beat a player from the Czech Republic since he made his professional debut in 2020 as his run at the Miami Open ended at the hands of No. 14 Karolina Muchova in the round of 16.
MANILA, Philippines – Call it a curse or just bad luck, but Alex Eala has not had any success against players from the Czech Republic.
Eala is yet to defeat a Czech player on the WTA Tour as her run at the Miami Open ended at the hands of world number 14 Karolina Muchova following a 6-0, 6-2 loss in the round of 16 at the Grandstand of the Hard Rock Stadium on Monday, March 23 (Tuesday, March 24, Manila time).
The loss stopped the 20-year-old Filipino from replicating her 2025 run to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament as she fell to 0-13 in matches against Czech opponents since turning pro in 2020.
It was Eala’s third loss this year against a Czech player after losing to Tereza Valentova in the 64th stage of the Qatar Open and Linda Noskova in the 16th stage of the Indian Wells Open earlier this March.
Other Czech Eala torturers include Marketa Vondroussova, Barbora Krejcikova, Linda Fruhvirtova, Marie Bouzkova, Katerina Siniakova, Tereza Martincova, Gabriela Knutson, and Anastasia Zarycka.
Muchova showed why he dominated Qatar a month ago when he beat Eala from start to finish, ending the match in just one hour.
The winner of the French Open final, Muchova dominated the first set, which she won in just 22 minutes after allowing Eala to score only six points.
Muchova then won the first four games of the second set, threatening to hand Eala its first straight defeat in four years before the Filipino put himself on the board with two of the next three games.
But that only delayed what seemed inevitable, with Muchova holding serve in the eighth game to seal a quick victory with her 20th winner and advance to the quarter-finals in Miami for the first time in her career.
“It felt really good. You get nervous here and there when it’s going, I don’t want to say easy, but when the score is in your favor, it’s like you have to be careful. I’m a little worried but obviously, I’m very happy to be here in the quarter. It’s amazing,” said Muchova.
Mistakes defeated Eala as they scored 32 in total (13 unforced and 19 forced) while totaling only seven winners.
With the loss, Eala – who holds the highest position of 29 in the WTA rankings – is expected to endure a major slump as she reached just 120 points out of the 390 points she earned when she reached the final four in Miami last year.
In the live rankings, Eala has dropped to number 45.
Still, it was a solid run for Eala as she advanced to the fourth round of her third consecutive WTA 1000 tournament after reaching the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February and the round of 16 at Indian Wells.
Receiving a first round bye as the 31st seed in Miami, Eala defeated Germany. Laura Siegemund in the round of 64 he then defeated Poland Magda Linette in the 32nd round. – Rappler.com
