Alex Eala’s first Miami Open opponent confirmed as she faces three-time Grand Slam doubles winner
Alex Eala will kick off her 2026 Miami Open campaign against Laura Siegemund after the world No 53 secured a straightforward win over Petra Marcinko in the opening round.
As one of the perks of being seeded at a WTA 1000 tournament is a bye into the second round and Eala earned hers as she has risen into the top 30 of the WTA Rankings on the back of an incredible 12 months.
The Filipina was still ranked outside the top 100 a year ago, but she reached the semi-final in Miami and “everything clicked” after that, including at the recent Dubai Tennis Championships where she reached the quarter-final.
She will hope for a similar run this time around, but will need to get past Siegemund in her opener.
Who is Laura Siegemund?
The 38-year-old is a WTA Tour veteran as she played her first-ever singles match way back in 2010, and during her 18 years on tour, she has won two singles titles and peaked at No 27 in the rankings.
The German has reached five singles finals and won two titles, the Swedish Open in 2016 and the following year she won a trophy on home soil as she was crowned Stuttgart Open champion.
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Siegemund has two Grand Slam quarter-finals to her name with those coming at the 2020 French Open and Wimbledon last year.
But she has had a lot of success on the doubles scene as she won the 2020 US Open women’s doubles title alongside Vera Zvonareva while she lifted the 2016 US Open mixed title with Mate Pavic and the 2020 French Open with Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
The veteran also won the 2023 WTA Finals with Zvonareva and reached a career-high No 4 in 2024.
Laura Siegemund At The Miami Open
The German doesn’t have the best of records at the WTA 1000 tournament as she is yet to make it past the second round as she has fallen at that stage three times in her career.
Last year, she lost in the second qualifying round.
But there is no doubt she will be a tough opponent and can still beat anyone on her day as she reached the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open last October, beating fifth seed Mirra Andreeva along the way.
Head-To-Head And Miami Open Clash
No, this will be their first-ever encounter with the match set for Thursday (Miami time). The order of play is still to be confirmed, but tournament director James Blake has hinted she will get top billing.
Recent Form
Siegemund is 2-3 in her last five matches, including her 6-4, 6-4 win over Marcinko with her other win also coming against Marcinko in the first round of the Indian Wells Open before she was beaten by Elina Svitolina in the second round.
Eala, meanwhile, is 3-2 as she picked up wins over Coco Gauff and Dayana Yastremska in Indian Wells before losing against Linda Noskova while she also beat Sorana Cirstea in Dubai.
