FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala advanced to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open after World No. 4 Coco Gauff retired due to an injury at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden Stadium 1 in California.
Eala was leading 6-2, 2-0 when Gauff retired after receiving treatment on her left arm during a medical timeout late in the final set.
Eala is expected to hit a new career-high 28th at the WTA rankings with her third round win, leaping four places from last week’s 32nd rank and three notches higher than her previous best of 31st.
The 20-year-old Eala got back at the 21-year-old Gauff, who defeated her at the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals nearly three weeks ago, 6-0, 6-2.
“I really didn’t wanna win this way but this is still really a big moment for me to be able to play in Stadium 1 of Indian Wells against such a great competitor,” said Eala after the 58-minute match.
“I’m really grateful to be here and I’m super happy,” added Eala, who once again drew a huge Filipino crowd that she addressed in Filipino during the post-match court interview.
“Mabuhay mga kababayan nandito tayo sa California. Maraming salamat sa suporta at magkita tayo sa next round (Long live my countrymen, we’re here in California. Thank you so much for the support and see you in the next round).”
While Gauff’s injury played a part in Eala’s win, the lefty Filipino netter played well and even broke the American’s serve four times.
Eala’s service and return game was working well against Gauff, who started nursing her injury in the latter part of the first set.
“I felt it, like, the second game of the first set. I guess a simple way to put it, it felt like a firework was going off inside of my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire,” said Gauff.
“And then as the match played, it got progressively worse, even on shots that I wasn’t even using my left arm for. It was a scary feeling,” she said.
Seeking a quarterfinal berth, Eala faces World No. 14 Czech Linda Noskova in the fourth round likely on Wednesday.
Noskova defeated Romanian Sorana Cirstea in their round of 32 clash, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
