Leylah Fernandez sees herself in Alex Eala in Stuttgart Open clash

Leylah Fernandez was all praises for Alex Eala even after pulling off a sweep victory in their maiden showdown at the 2026 Stuttgart Open Round of 32 on Tuesday in Germany.

Fernandez, who has Filipino roots through her Filipino-Canadian mother, got the best of the Philippine ace with a 6-1, 6-4 victory that punched her ticket to the Round of 16 and booted out Eala from contention as the latter's clay-court woes continued.

Still, Fernandez took time to commend the Filipina tennis sensation in their first-ever encounter. 

"Oh man, 100%. I mean, I remember watching her play a couple years back at the Rafa Nadal Academy and she was playing super fast," the 23-year-old Fernandez said. 

"And I remember telling my coach at the time saying like, wow, she plays quick. So it was like a mirror because he said, look, it's exactly like you."

After dropping a lopsided Set 1 loss, the 20-year-old Eala fought back in Set 2, winning back-to-back games to trim the gap to a single game, 5-4, and threaten the Canadian netter. But Fernandez displayed composure to spoil Eala's comeback and seal the victory. 

And that was exactly what Fernandez expected from the world no. 45 Pinay. 

"Honestly, it's what my coach told me at love-30, 5-4. He said, you know, she's not gonna go down easy as you can see. So she's gonna fight, you're gonna have to take the match," Fernandez added.

"So I was glad that I trusted him and I just trusted the training that we've done. So happy to get the win here."

The loss was another setback in Eala’s rising career, marking the second straight clay-court tournament this year in which she exited early. Before the Germany contest, Eala lost to Jelena Ostapenko in the Round of 16 of the Linz Open. 

But Fernandez is confident Eala could come back in her next tournament. 

"So just enjoy, figure it out and have fun."

—JKC, GMA News