Eala advances to Indian Wells Round of 16 as Gauff retires

NOT IN the way she wanted but Alexandra “Alex” Eala exacted vengeance on her good friend Coco Gauff, who was forced to retire due to injury to give the Filipina pride a Round of 16 passage in the 2026 Indian Wells Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Monday.

Ms. Eala took the first set with ease, 6-2, and was leading 2-0 in the second set after a break point when Ms. Gauff called it a day due to a nagging pain in her left arm before a 16,000-strong capacity crowd at the Stadium 1, the second-biggest tennis stadium in the world.

Ms. Gauff before this retired only once in her stellar career against Maris Bouzkova of Czechia in the 2022 Cincinnati Open due to a left ankle injury.

The 20-year-old Pinay thus settled an unfinished business with Ms. Gauff, 21, in the Tennis Paradise after a 6-0, 6-2 beating in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month for a head-to-head equalizer.

“I really didn’t wanna win this way but this is still a really big moment for me. To be able to play in Stadium 1 of Indian Wells and against such a great competitor,” said the WTA No. 32, a heavy underdog against the world No. 4 American with multiple Grand Slams under her pocket, at the second-largest tennis venue behind only the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York (home of the US Open).

“I’m really grateful to be here, and super happy.”

It’s the third career win for the 31^st seed Ms. Eala against Top 5 players, having beaten Iga Swiatek (No. 2) of Poland and Madison Keys (then No. 5) of USA in the Miami Open last year. Against Top 10 players, it’s her fourth after also stunning then world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in Dubai.

What was seen as a tightrope duel this time around, however, proved to be a cruise as the vengeful Ms. Eala, in fine form after a 7-4, 4-6, 7-5 Round 2 challenge from No. 52 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, made it rain on Ms. Gauff from trailing 1-2 in the first after losing serve.

A staggering 5-0 finishing kick marked by three break points gave Ms. Eala the opener, a far cry from a first-set bagel against the three-time Slam champion in Dubai, where she won a total of only two games.

It was all Ms. Eala from there, thus arranging a duel against world No. 14 Linda Noskova of Czechia for a ticket in the quarterfinals of the prestigious 1000-level tour. Ms. Noskova stormed back to elude No. 38 Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4 to advance.

The winner gets a shot against either now world No. 7 Ms. Paolini or Talia Gibson of Australia (No. 112) in the Last 8. It gets tougher from there as either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or No. 16 Naomi Osaka of Japan, as well as No. 10 Victoria Mboko of Canada or No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of USA will be waiting in the semifinals.

And Ms. Eala did it in time for the celebration of International Women’s Day, crediting Ms. Gauff, her mother and all the women who have shattered the barrier for female excellence in the once impenetrable world sporting scene.

“First and foremost, I want to say happy Women’s Day everybody. I want to say thank you to all the incredible women who have paved the way for other women, who advocated for themselves and for other women,” beamed Ms. Eala, soaking in cheers from another home turf advantage despite being up against the American star.

“Among them is Coco. So, thank you, Coco, for being an amazing competitor and an amazing role model. And I really hope that everything is well and you will recover soon.”

Ms. Eala also paid homage to her mother Rizza, who has been beside her since Day 1 in every country as then a junior and unknown pro before her meteoric rise as now one of the faces of international tennis.

“I also want to say happy Women’s Day to my mom who is there in the stands. I want to thank her for being the amazing woman that she is and for helping me become the woman that I am,” she smiled.

Ms. Eala’s Round of 16 entry has pushed her to No. 28 in the WTA live rankings with 110 additional points, looking to jump higher with a win against Ms. Noskova.

And like every game she has played in regardless of the city thousands of miles away from the Philippines this season, Ms. Eala will have a mammoth crowd to lean on in California that boasts the biggest population of Filipinos across the states at around two million.

It’s up there for the taking. — John Bryan Ulanday