TENNIS sensation Alex Eala of the Philippines will face a familiar foe in the round of 32 of the 2026 Madrid Open as she clashes against Elise Mertens of Belgium at the Caja Magica (Magic Box), Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
In her opening match last Wednesday, Eala dominated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3, 6-3, to advance.
Eala, who is currently ranked No. 44 in the world, will be tested by No. 21 Mertens either Friday night or Saturday morning as organizers have not released the starting time of their match.
Eala first took on Mertens at the Jasmin Open Monastir in Tunisia in October 2023 as the Filipina fell to the Belgian, 5-7, 0-6, in the 250-tier tournament.
During that time, Eala was just beginning her campaign in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and was ranked 196th in the world. Mertens, on the other hand, was ranked 36th back then after reaching a career-high of No. 12 in November 2018.
Today, the 20-year-old Eala has vastly improved her game although she remains to be the underdog against Mertens.
Mertens received a first-round bye in the 2026 Madrid Open, while Eala came off from a nearly flawless win over Pavlyuchenkova after only committing eight errors in the entire match.
Both netters fell short in the Stuttgart Open as Eala bowed to Filipino Spaniard Leylah Fernandez, 1-6, 4-6, while Mertens fell to Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the round of 16.
What’s different this time
In 2023, when Mertens won over Eala, the Belgian used a variety of defensive plays to frustrate the young Filipina.
Still, Eala showed grit by pushing the match to a 5-5 score, before Mertens dug deep and took the first set at 7-5.
The Belgian has figured out the young Eala at that time and dominated the second frame at 6-0.
Three years since that encounter, a lot has changed for both players.
The 30-year-old Belgian won two titles at the Libema Open (grass) and Singapore (hard) in 2025 to complete her set of winning WTA titles on all three surfaces, including clay.
A lot has also changed for Eala since then.
She made a top 30 debut in 2026, and in 2025, she became the first Filipino ever to reach the semifinal round in a WTA 1000 event, where she eventually lost to Jessica Pegula.
Eala has played a total of 19 singles matches and 5 doubles matches on the professional tour this season. She holds a singles win-loss record of 11–8 for the year so far.
Her biggest win in 2026 was when she defeated No. 8 Jasmine Paolini at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, before being eliminated by No. 3 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.
Merten’s biggest achievement in 2026 in singles was reaching the fourth round (round of 16) in Melbourne after defeating rising star Nikola Bartůňková, 6–0, 6–4.