Who is Alex Eala’s first Indian Wells opponent? Ukrainian star Dayana Yastremska
After her impressive run at the Dubai Championships, Alex Eala will make her Indian Wells debut, and she has learned her first opponent in California.
Eala enjoyed a fruitful Middle East swing in February as she reached quarter-finals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai either side of a first round exit in Doha.
The Filipina, who is ranked 32nd in the world, received a bye to the second round in Indian Wells as the 31st seed.
The 20-year-old will face Dayana Yastremska in her first match at the WTA 1000 tournament on Friday night.
Who is Dayana Yastremska?
Dayana Yastremska was born on 15 May, 2000 in Odesa, Ukraine to her mother Marina and father Oleksandr — who was a volleyball player.
She was introduced to tennis at the age of five by her grandfather Ivan.
Yastremska and her younger sister Ivanna were forced to flee their home city of Odesa in February 2022 due to Russia’a invasion of Ukraine. She has since lived in France and Monaco.
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In an interview with Tennis.com in 2020, Yastremska said: “When I was younger, I had to sacrifice a lot of things, but now I’m not regretting it. To live the life I have, it’s really nice.
“I have to say a big thank you to my parents because if they didn’t push me in the right moment, then I don’t think I’d have the life I have right now.
“We always have some pluses and minuses, but I think the more I work now in tennis the better life I’m going to have after.”
Dayana Yastremska’s career
Yastremska was a runner-up at the 2016 Wimbledon junior event and reached a best junior world ranking of world No 6.
The Ukrainian has won three WTA Tour singles titles having triumphed in her first three finals, all of which were at WTA 250/International level (Hong Kong in 2018, Hua Hin and Strasbourg in 2019). She has since been a runner-up in four finals.
Yastremska achieved her best senior Grand Slam result at the 2024 Australian Open, where made a stunning run to the semi-finals as a qualifier.
She reached her career-high ranking of world No 21 in January 2020 and is currently ranked 52nd.
The 25-year-old holds a 138-141 (49.5%) record on the main tour.
Has Alex Eala played Dayana Yastremska before?
In the pair’s only previous encounter, Eala crushed Yastremska 6-1, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the grass-court event in Eastbourne last year.
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