Alexandra Eala has made her BNP Paribas Open debut impressively as the 31st seed and has defeated former World No. 21 Dayana Yastremska in the Round of 64.
In a recent press conference, Eala shared her thoughts on her upcoming match against fourth-seeded Coco Gauff, highlighting her excitement and anticipating a high level of support for the American.
Alexandra Eala Expecting Huge Support for Coco Gauff Ahead of Indian Wells Clash
Eala, the World No. 32, is competing in the Sunshine swing after reaching the quarterfinal at the Abu Dhabi Open, where she also advanced to the semifinals in doubles with Janice Tjen. She exited the Qatar Open early with a first-round loss to Tereza Valentová, and at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Gauff in straight sets.
Eala and Gauff are set to clash again at the BNP Paribas Open, being held from March 4 to 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The Filipino, playing in the tournament for the first time, shared her views on her upcoming match against the American, who is entering the matchup on the back of a win against Kamilla Rakhimova.
During her post-match press conference, Eala expressed her anticipation of facing Gauff, noting that she would aim to implement what she learned from her earlier defeat to the two-time Grand Slam champion.
Eala said, “I’m excited, like I said the other day when you asked me. It was a tough match for me last time. I think she played really well. So all I can do is take the learnings that I have from our last match and try to implement that in our next one, yeah. Well, it’s not my first huge match. I think it’s definitely going to be a tough one.”
Eala continued underscoring the elite talent of the Florida native and also acknowledged that the crowd would be dominantly supporting their star.
“Coco is an amazing player, and playing at home. I’m expecting, you know, a big crowd to rally behind her just because she’s amazing. But it’s like every other match,” Eala said. “You know, today I had to dig really deep, so I’m expecting that the next match I have to do even more. So I’m ready, and I’m looking forward to it, yeah.”
At the tournament, Eala will also compete in the doubles category with rising American talent Iva Jovic and will face Jeļena Ostapenko and Hailey Baptiste in the round of 32.
