Alexandra Eala reflects on her ‘crazy’ relationship with Rafael Nadal

Alexandra Eala overcame a very tough test against Magdalena Frech to confirm her place in the second round of the Italian Open for the first time in her career.

Eala took the first set with a bagel, but she confirmed a fightback from the Polish player. After losing the second set 6-3, Eala turned the match around to win the decider 6-4.

The Filipina star has set up a second round match Wang Xinyu as she looks to make a last-minute dash for seeded entry at the upcoming Roland Garros.

After her victory against Frech, Eala was interviewed by The Tennis Channel to discuss her latest victory and her remarkable rise over the last year.

Eala was asked about her collaboration with Rafael Nadal and how he has influenced her during her brilliant performances across some of the biggest events on the WTA Tour.

“Well, aside from all of the really core relationships that I’ve had that have brought me to where I am today, like my team, of course meeting Rafa and just being able to to kind of converse with him on a quite a regular basis is crazy to me,” she said.

The Filipina star even revealed that she has received coaching tips from Toni Nadal, who coached his nephew Rafael for much of his legendary career.

“And you know, sometimes I’m coached by Toni. If you know, if you told me that when I was younger, there’s no way I would have believed you.”

Nadal has worked with the likes of Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime since splitting with his nephew, so he could offer Eala some widsom as she looks to climb the WTA Tour rankings.

Despite learning her trade at the Rafael Nadal Academy, Eala has never looked her most comfortable on the clay, which goes someway to explaining her results so far this year.

Eala’s victory against Frech was just her third on the clay this season after appearances at the Linz Open, the Stuttgart Open, the Madrid Open, and now the Italian Open.

The 20-year-old is yet to win two matches in a row on the clay this term, so there is plenty riding on her second round match against Wang Xinyu.

Eala will need to buck her head-to-head trend against Wang if she wants to continue into the Italian Open. The two stars have played just one match on the WTA Tour, which came at the beginning of the season.

Wang Xinyu and Eala met in the semi-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, which narrowly went the way of the Chinese player. Wang Xinyu defeated Eala in three sets, taking the deciding set by a scoreline of 6-4.

The Chinese star was beaten in the final by Elina Svitolina, but Eala will still be hoping to inflict some semblance of revenge at the Italian Open.