World No. 14 Noskova blasts Eala in Indian Wells Open Round of 16

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA was handed a masterclass by world No. 14 Linda Noskova, folding in a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to crash out of play in the Indian Wells Open Round of 16 on Wednesday at the enormous Stadium 1 of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.

Ms. Eala, WTA No. 32, was still in the thick of the fight at 2-3 early in the first set but that’s the closest she got to within the Czech powerhouse, never winning a game from there for a deflating defeat in the fifth Grand Slam in only 55 minutes.

The 20-year-old Filipina was 2-0 against Ms. Noskova back in their junior days marked by a huge win in the 2020 French Open girls’ singles quarterfinals but in their first women’s professional encounter, the 21-year-old Czech was simply head and shoulders above.

Ms. Noskova, with multiple Grand Slam and Olympic experiences under her belt, was relentless from midway through the first set, unleashing a 3-0 closeout that just snowballed to serving Ms. Eala a flattening bagel in the second.

A silenced pro-Ms. Eala crowd it was in California, a state that boasts the biggest Filipino population in the world at around two million, as Ms. Noskova put on a clinic with seven aces.

Ms. Noskova also converted five breakpoints while Ms. Eala, the 31^st seed who had a first-round bye riding on a massive win against world No. 4 Coco Gauff, played sloppy in her attack game with three double faults. Ms. Noskova had none.

A quarterfinalist in the Australian Open last year, Ms. Noskova will face Talia Gibson of Australia (No. 112), who stunned world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, for a seat in the final four.

Waiting for the winner is either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or No. 10 Victoria Mboko of Canada. Ms. Sabalenka trounced No. 16 Naomi Osaka of Japan, 6-2, 6-4, while Ms. Mboko drubbed No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of USA, 6-4, 6-1.

Still, it was a commendable campaign for Ms. Eala in a stacked 96-player field headlined by the tennis titans with her two wins for a Round of 16 finish possibly pushing her inside the Top 30 in next week’s ranking update.

As per the WTA live rankings, Ms. Eala is now at No. 28 for a new career-best with 110 additional points after beating No. 52 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, and Ms. Gauff, 6-2, 6-2 (ret).

Ms. Gauff called off the match in the second set due to pain in her left arm, giving Ms. Eala her fourth career-win against Top 10 players that should serve handy in the next WTA Tour stop in Florida.

A breakout star in the Miami Open last year, Ms. Eala will return to the 1000-level tour on March 17 to 29, looking to replicate her magical final four run as a wildcard or even surpass it in style.

The Miami Open served as a springboard for Ms. Eala to crack the Top 100 and later on Top 50, being eligible from there on for all 1000-level tours and four Grand Slam events.

Save for a first-round exit in the WTA 1000 Qatar Open, Ms. Eala had made deep campaigns in all stops of the WTA Tour from Auckland to Manila, Dubai and the UAE on top of an exhibition title in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne and a main draw debut in the Australian Open.

And she has a full week to prepare for the next stop with a legion of fans behind her once again like what she had enjoyed as the world tennis poster girl in every tournament with a “homecourt” edge so far this season. — John Bryan Ulanday