‘Czech Curse’ continues as Eala falls to Muchova

(UPDATE) THE ‘Czech Curse’ continues to haunt Alex Eala at the WTA Tour.

The Filipino tennis ace found herself losing to another Czech player, getting outclassed this time by Karolina Muchova, 0-6, 2-6, in the Miami Open round of 16 at the Hard Rock Stadium Grandstand Court Tuesday midnight in Manila.

Eala found no answer to Muchova’s masterclass.

With the loss, Eala is expected to drop to 45th to 50th place once the official rankings is updated next week.

Eala gained 120 ranking points only in the tourney, losing 270 as she failed to match her dream semifinal finish last year that earned her 390.

Points gained in a tournament expire after 52 weeks (1 year).

Aware of the upset capabilities of Eala, Muchova made it a point to take it to the Filipino tennis ace in their round of 16 clash.

Take it to the world No. 29 and 31st seed Eala, Muchova did.

“I just wanted to control the game because I know she can be very dangerous especially here where she had an amazing result last year,” said Muchova, a two-time WTA champ, in a Tennis Channel interview.

“So, I tried to control the game, keep myself at the baseline, and play aggressive and it worked so far pretty good,” the 29-year-old added.

Muchova thus kept Eala winless against Czech players at 0-13, stretching the ‘Czech Curse’ against the 20-year-old netter.

Eala suffered her second loss against a Czech player in just two weeks as she fell to Linda Noskova, 2-6, 0-6, at the Indian Wells round of 16 on March 11.

With the round of 16 exit in Miami, Eala is expected to drop to 45th to 50th place once the official rankings is updated next week.

Eala gained 120 ranking points only in the tourney, losing 270 as she failed to match her dream semifinal finish last year that earned her 390.

Points gained in a tournament expire after 52 weeks (1 year).

Moving on to clay season

After her “Sunshine Swing” campaign, Eala will next compete at the Linz Open slated from April 6 to 12 in Austria to begin her clay season.

This will be Eala’s first participation in the WTA 500 competition.

Some household names in the draw include Emma Raducanu, Clara Tauson, Jelena Ostapenko, and defending champion Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Click here to read article