ALEX Eala started her campaign in the Madrid Open on a rousing note, drubbing Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgary, 6-3, 6-2, on Tuesday, April 22, in Madrid, Spain.

By scoring the convincing victory in the opening round of this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA1000) event, the 19-year-old Eala arranged a grudge rematch with world No. 2 and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.

Eala and Swiatek faced each other in the Miami Open last month with the Filipino tennis sensation beating the Polish star in their quaterfinal match.

Eala will be out to prove that her previous win over Swiatek was no fluke. For her part, Swiatek, who earned first-round bye, will try to hit two birds with one stone when she shoots for sweet revenge and kick off her title-retention bid on a positive note.

Both Eala and Swiatek are looking to get back into groove. Swiatek is coming off a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko at the Stuttgart Open last week, while Eala suffered a second-round exit as a top-seeded player at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal also last week.

Against Tomova, Eala needed 76 minutes to take down the higher-ranked opponent.

Tomova is ranked 64th in the world while Eala is at No. 72, a career-high.(CCM)

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