Iga Swiatek avoided another shock defeat against Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala by fighting back to win their Madrid Open second-round match.
World number two Swiatek, who was stunned by Eala in Miami last month, won 4-6 6-4 6-2 on the Spanish clay.
Swiatek lost in the Stuttgart quarter-finals last week and, having received a bye in the Madrid first round, produced some edgy groundstrokes in a poor first set.
A tally of 25 unforced errors indicated it was a performance nowhere near befitting of the WTA Tour’s dominant clay-court player of recent seasons.
Mistakes continued to come as the 23-year-old from Poland fell a break down early in the second set.
Swiatek, who is the reigning Madrid champion and has a host of ranking points to defend over the European clay swing, looked in serious trouble.
It felt like the same story as when 19-year-old Eala, then ranked outside the world’s top 100, beat her on the Miami hard courts.
But five-time major champion Swiatek refocused and realigned to break back, then took control as her improved power and precision from the baseline overwhelmed Eala.
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exeter.one newsbite last confirmed 1 week ago by Jonathan Jurejko
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