Swiatek hoping to use clay-court experience to gain revenge on Eala in Madrid
The Pole was beaten by Eala In Miami and lost early to Jelena Ostapenko last week in Stuttgart
© Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
New week, new tournament, a familiar match-up, but on a new surface.
Iga Swiatek gets the chance for a piece of quick revenge when she plays rising star Alexandra Eala in the second round of the Madrid Open on Thursday. A repeat of their Miami clash last month, which Eala won in sensational style in what was a breakthrough week for the young Philippines player.
On her beloved clay, defending champion Swiatek will be looking to bounce back from last week’s defeat by her nemesis, Jelena Ostapenko, but first up, Eala will present her with problems, even if Swiatek sees it as an entirely different match-up on clay compared to hard courts.
“Honestly, with Alexandra, like it’s not like we played a lot, so it’s hard for me to say (how different it will be,” she told reporters in Madrid on Wednesday. “I guess I’ll just need to see and adjust.
“We’ll talk for sure about the tactics today with Wim (Fissette, her coach) but I’m not going to predict anything, like I’m not a wizard.”
Swiatek won the title in Madrid last year after a brilliant final against Aryna Sabalenka and said she hoped her greater knowledge of the place and surface would be key.
“I feel like I know this place pretty well, so I’m going to use the experience, but the experience doesn’t play, so I got to approach this match as any other match, doesn’t really matter what happened in Miami,” she said.
“For me, tennis is most logical on clay”
Despite her loss to Ostapenko, who went on to win the title in Stuttgart by beating Sabalenka in the final, Swiatek said she was more than happy to be back on the surface she loves, one where she has won four French Open titles.
“For sure at the beginning (when you get back on clay) you have many things to focus on in terms of adjusting your game, so it’s nice to have these first days and first week of just grinding and practising,” she said.
“I love that, especially on clay, because tennis, for me, it’s the most logical there, and also you can be more creative in terms of the tactics and everything, so I really enjoy that.
“I think when I feel like I can use this on a match court, for sure I am more relaxed. I just know my weapons, I know I always have a plan B in my defence, which sometimes is impossible on faster hard courts, for example. So I just use that and it gives me confidence for sure.”
