Andrea Petkovic Explains Why Alexandra Eala Reminds Her of Jannik Sinner: “She’s So Emotionally Stable”

Alexandra Eala has finally tasted victory in a tour-level tournament. After hogging the spotlight for the first time in last year’s Miami Open, Eala has dealt with ups and downs, but she has been one of the most consistent performers this year, having made deep runs in quite a few tournaments.

She is competing at the Canadian Open, where she went past Alycia Parks in her opening round to schedule the next match against Caty McNally. The 21-year-old is chasing the second title of her career in Toronto.

Before arriving in the Canadian city, Eala made her debut at the Citi Open, only to wrap it up in her favor with a three-set victory over home favorite Jessica Pegula. Throughout the final, Eala maintained her composure, but the moment she won the last point, she collapsed on the ground in tears.

Former WTA player Andrea Petkovic said Eala reminds her of men’s World No.1 Jannik Sinner, saying the Filipina has the emotional stability that’s needed to have a good career.

It is fascinating to watch her. I really think that, the fact she is so emotionally stable I think she can handle anything. That’s how it seems right now. Of course, there will be ups and downs, and she will have times where she plays better and times when she plays not as great, but I feel she has that inner strength where she can withstand anything.

Andrea Petkovic said on The Big T podcast

Eala played her second tour-level final in Washington. Last year, she reached the title clash of the Eastbourne International, which she lost to Maya Joint.

To be honest, it reminds me of Jannik Sinner in a different way, but these kind of personalities are really made for tennis. If you are very much up and down, tennis will wear you down, and it will exhaust you, and you will hit the wall at one point. But these players who don’t seem to get too high or too low when things are going really great or really badly, they just seem to be very stable in what they want and who they are.

Andrea Petkovic added

Sinner is not playing at the Canadian Open. Instead of chasing the historic Golden Masters, the five-time Grand Slam champion decided to rest and recover well before the US Open.

Jannik Sinner could skip the Cincinnati Masters

Jannik Sinner was expected to play the Cincinnati Masters to start his campaign on the North American hardcourt swing. But worrying reports have emerged that raised doubts about his participation.

As per Corriere della Sera, the 24-year-old underwent what was expected to be a routine medical checkup with Professor Gianluca Melegati in Milan. And now it has emerged that Sinner has been dealing with knee discomfort and that he has not yet decided whether he will be playing in Cincinnati, where he handed the walkover to Carlos Alcaraz in the final last year.

If Sinner skips Cincinnati, then it will be for the third time this year that he will play a Major without featuring in the warm-up tournaments. He did not play any events prior to the Australian Open and withdrew from the Halle Open before successfully defending his title at Wimbledon.

At the US Open last year, Sinner played as the defending champion and faced a four-set defeat at the hands of Alcaraz in the final. The Spaniard withdrew from both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters due to his wrist injury.

Sinner has won the most titles on the men’s tour this season. Before his Wimbledon win, the Italian ace clinched the first five Masters 1000s of the season.

Also read: Andy Roddick Makes ‘It Just Stinks’ Comment About Emma Raducanu’s US Open Withdrawal