Eala sweeps Linette to enter the Miami Open’s Round of 16

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Alex Eala’s quest for a second consecutive majestic Miami Open campaign is still alive after overpowering Poland’s Magda Linette, 6-3, 7-6, on March 22, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

With the win, the 20-year-old Filipina ace advanced to the final 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament, moving one win away from punching a quarterfinal ticket if she gets past Czech netter Karolina Muchova in the next round.

Unlike her grueling three-set escape against German veteran Laura Siegemund, Eala this time dictated the pace of the match right from the opening serve, leaning on a clinical display of groundstrokes that kept Linette off guard.

Eala scored a much-needed early break point to pull away, 5-3, before holding serve to draw first blood with a 1-0 lead.

Things got interesting in the second set as Linette finally broke out of her baseline slump, hitting the ball better on the backhand side compared to an error-prone outing in the first frame.

With the much-improved shotmaking, Linette took the lead three times in the second set, but Eala fought back in the crucial moments to force a deciding tiebreaker.

After overcoming a 5-6 deficit, Eala got looser and reverted to the first-set aggression that put the tiebreaker in her favor.

Eala started strong with a 3-0 lead courtesy of two efficient service games and a backhand winner, followed by a slick approach to the net for a commanding 5-1 advantage.

It was pretty much over after Eala moved a point away from sealing the sweep, 6-1, securing the 2-0 victory on the sixth match point.

After nearly two hours of tennis, Eala wrapped up the win with 71 total points won, including 24 on the return and one service ace.

On the other hand, Linette struggled to find her footing from the get-go, committing two double faults while landing just 56% of her first serves.

Eala will have only hours of rest before returning to the hard court against Muchova in the Round of 16, after the Czech earlier took down Katie Boulter in the Round of 32.