Alexandra Eala ended an odd run of results on Wednesday, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3 in the first round at the Mutua Madrid Open. The 20-year-old broke Pavlyuchenkova four times to close out a composed victory and advance.

Eala reflected on the match afterward: “The intensity was really high throughout the whole match. One of the things that I really had to focus on was a good percentage of first serves. I know Anastasia is a big hitter, so I think that helped with my match today.” The win sent her through to the second round of this WTA 1000 for the third year running.

Beyond the immediate result, the victory ended an unusual trend followers had been tracking for the past year. The fan-generated “ova” stat dated back to exactly one year earlier when Eala beat Viktoria Tomova. When the Quezon City native fell at the Miami Open, X user @ichpruens published, “The OVA curse continues. Karolina Muchova effortlessly defeats Alex Eala.”

Social posts before Madrid illustrated the fixation. On Tuesday ahead of Eala taking the court, X account @alexealastan wrote, “Oh naur… Alex Eala will face (another ova 😭) Pavlyuchenkova at Madrid R1.” Pleaded @APalaiz before her match, “Please beat the OVA.” Those posts were among several that highlighted a run in which Eala had lost eight consecutive matches to opponents whose last names end in “ova.” That string also contributed to her winless record against Czech opponents rising to 0-12, a country-specific detail that some fans continue to note.

On the day, however, the headline belonged to Eala and a clean two-set win that moves her deeper into Madrid’s draw and halts the peculiar streak her supporters had been counting.

Elena Rybakina’s victory in Stuttgart has narrowed the gap to Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings and revived genuine discussion about the No. 1 race.

By winning Stuttgart last week, world No. 2 Rybakina shortened a deficit that had stood at 2,917 points (Sabalenka 11,025 to Rybakina 8,108) to 2,395 points (10,895 to 8,500). The change came both from Rybakina adding the Stuttgart title points and from Sabalenka losing points after skipping the event, having reached the final there last year.

That 2,395-point gap is the smallest anyone has reached against Sabalenka since the opening week of the 2026 season, when Sabalenka led then-No. 2 Iga Swiatek by 2,312 points (10,490 to 8,178).

Rybakina cannot overtake Sabalenka in Madrid, but the WTA 1000 event can substantially alter momentum. Sabalenka is defending 1,000 points from winning Madrid last year; Rybakina is defending only 65 points after a third-round exit a year ago. In the most extreme Madrid scenario—Sabalenka losing her opening match while Rybakina wins the title—the gap would fall to just 470 points, with Sabalenka dropping from 10,895 to 9,905 and Rybakina rising from 8,500 to 9,435.

That outcome is possible but unlikely, largely because Sabalenka has won Madrid three times, including three of the last five years, and she has not lost before the quarterfinals of any event since last February, nor before the final of any event since last October.

Beyond Madrid the picture becomes more complex. Over the rest of last year’s clay season Sabalenka earned 1,515 points (215 for a Rome quarterfinal and 1,300 for a French Open final), while Rybakina collected 805 points (65 in Rome, 500 for winning Strasbourg and 240 for a fourth round at Roland Garros).

Madrid cannot immediately decide the No. 1 ranking, but the tournament will set the tone for how the battle for the top spot unfolds through the remainder of the clay-court season.

Jannik Sinner arrives in Madrid as the top-ranked player and a heavy favourite to extend a remarkable run at ATP Masters 1000 level. He will compete in the Mutua Madrid Open without one of his principal rivals in the draw as he chases a fifth consecutive Masters 1000 title.

Before the tournament began, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz met off court at the Laureus World Sports Awards, where Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti were also in attendance. “I talked with him. It’s a very big pity to not have him here and also Novak, the two biggest stars in tennis,” stated Sinner when meeting with media Tuesday . “So we still hope it’s going to be a good tournament, but of course, not seeing them, it makes a big difference.”

Alcaraz withdrew from his home event with a right arm injury and is currently wearing a brace. He nonetheless accepted the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award on the night. Aryna Sabalenka earned Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year honors.

Sinner regained the world No. 1 ranking after prevailing in a winner-take-all final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. That victory ended a near four-year title drought on clay for the Italian, who had fallen to Alcaraz on clay at Rome and Roland Garros last season. The 24-year-old became the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015 to sweep Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, and he has set his sights on completing a Career Masters 1000 collection in the Spanish and Italian capitals over the next month.

Sinner has never advanced beyond the quarterfinal stage in Madrid and missed last year’s edition while serving a three-month ban in a settlement with WADA related to two positive tests for Clostebol at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

His only two losses in 26 matches this season came to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals and to 16th-ranked Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event in Doha. I’m just trying to figure out how to play on this surface here in Madrid. Jannik Sinner

“I think every different kind of clay court can help me as I am trying to improve as a player. Here, it might be one of the most challenging ones because of certain things and also depending on who you play,” he said. “I have never played very well here, so let’s see how it goes this year. But I’m very happy to be here.”