Alexandra Eala, the first player from the Philippines to appear in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in the Open Era, overcame a slow start against No. 31 seed Xinyu Wang of China to advance to the third round in Rome on Friday.
Wang takes early lead before Eala finds her rhythm
Wang, who won the pair’s only previous meeting in the semifinals in Auckland earlier this year, broke Eala’s serve twice to take a 3-0 lead in the opening set. But Eala soon settled into the match and began dictating play, winning six of the next seven games to claim the set 6-4.
Eala wins final four games to seal straight-set victory
The second set began with both players exchanging breaks before Wang saved two break points to hold for a 3-2 lead. From there, Eala won four consecutive games to complete a 6-4, 6-3 victory in 1 hour, 26 minutes. The win leveled their head-to-head record on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz at 1-1.
First WTA 1000 third-round appearance on clay
Eala, who reached the semifinals in Miami last year and the quarterfinals in Dubai earlier this season, advanced to the third round of a WTA 1000 clay-court event for the first time in her career. Her previous best result in Rome or Madrid was a second-round appearance.
16th WTA win of the season
The victory marked Eala’s 16th WTA Tour match win of the 2026 season across 10 tournaments. She also owns the most wins by a left-handed player on the WTA Tour this year.
Rybakina or Sakkari await in third round
Next up for the 20-year-old will be either second seed Elena Rybakina or former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari, who were scheduled to play later Friday. Eala has not previously faced either player on tour.