It’s safe to say the Czech curse continues to haunt Alex Eala.
Utter domination unfolded in the Filipina’s round of 16 match in the 2026 Miami Open, as she absorbed a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing at the hands of 14th seed Karolína Muchová early Tuesday morning (Philippine time).
For the second straight WTA 1000 tournament, a player from the Czech Republic ended Eala’s run. Linda Nosková dealt her a similar fate in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, dropping her to a troubling 0-12 record against Czech opposition.
From the opening point, Muchová seized control, breaking Eala in the very first game — and from there, never looked back, both literally and figuratively.
The only signs of resistance came midway through the second set, when Eala finally held serve in the fifth and seventh games. Those brief holds showed improved first-serve placement and more aggressive shot selection, but by then, the gap had already been firmly established.
The gap was most evident in the serve-and-return numbers, where Muchová dominated Eala. The 2026 Doha Open champion won 80% of her first-serve points compared to Eala’s 39%, while also taking 64% of first-serve return points against Eala’s 20% – a clear sign of her control on both ends of each rally.
As a result, Eala falls short of replicating her breakthrough semifinal run in Miami last year, a result that will cost her 270 ranking points and likely push her down toward the mid-40s in the WTA rankings.
With her Sunshine Swing campaign over, she now shifts focus to the clay season, where she is expected to open her Clay-Court swing at the 2026 Linz Open in April.