March 6, 2026Updated March 7, 2026, 8:09 a.m. PT
The 20-year-old rising star who has taken the tennis world by storm and brought tons of Filipino tennis fans with her, had a win for the ages in the wee hours of Friday night in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Playing as a seeded player for the first time in her career, Eala pulled out a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win over Dayana Yastremska of the Ukraine. The match lasted 2 hours and 43 minutes and finished at 11:55 p.m.
Eala, in front of a packed Stadium 3 crowd (when the match started at least), survived despite Yastremska serving for the match up 5-4 in the third. Eala broke her opponent and then won the next two games for the dramatic win.
“It means the world to have this community behind me in such a prestigious tournament. For them to make the effort to stay up late and stay in the cold and cheer me on, so it really added to the feelings and the emotions after the match, yeah,” Eala said.
Seeded 31st, next up for Eala is a showcase matchup with No. 4 Coco Gauff on Sunday. Prediction: That match won’t be on Stadium 3.
Coco Gauff rallies for straight-set win
Coco Gauff escaped a tight first match at Indian Wells on Friday. The fourth-seeded tennis star came from down a double beak in the second set to force a tiebreaker and subsequently beat Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3-7-6(3) on Stadium Court.
The top-seeded American at the BNP Paribas Open, Gauff, who’ll turn 22 on March 13, trailed the Russian-born Uzbekistani qualifier 2-5 in the second set. Gauff saved a set point and eventually worked her way back into the set to force the tiebreak.
Gauff has now reached the third round at Indian Wells in all six appearances.
Sabalenka rolls in first match since engagement
The world’s No. 1 women’s player, Aryna Sabalenka, didn’t take long to dismiss qualifier Himeno Sakatsume 6-4, 6-2 on Friday and during the match she wore her now-famous 12 karat engagement ring.
Sabalenka’s engagement to boyfriend of two years Georgios Frangulis, a Brazilian businessman and the founder of the açaí chain Oakberry, began with Franguilis’s proposal on March 3.
Why did he propose in, of all places, Indian Wells?
“It’s tennis paradise,” she said, smiling. “Sounds just beautiful.”
Sabalenka will return to the court Sunday to face Jaqueline Cristian.
Osaka cruises, too
Naomi Osaka, who broke through and won Indian Wells in 2018, looked crisp in her first match at Indian Wells. She rolled to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra.
The match was Osaka’s first since she withdrew from the third round of the Australian Open due to injury. She wore a yellow and black leopard patterned Nike outfit that changed colors slightly, depending on the light.
Osaka will next face Camila Osorio of Columbia, who upset rising star Iva Jovic on Friday.
Anisimova avoids gigantic upset
American Amanda Anismova overcame a disastrous first set to win in the nightcap match on Stadium Court on Friday.
Her 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over Anna Blinkova of Russia means she’ll now face Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu on Sunday.
Anisimova, the sixth seed in the draw, lost the first set 7-5 and then won 12 of the next 13 games to silence any doubters about the match.
The 24-year-old is coming off the best year of her career. She has reached at least the quarterfinals of the last three Grand Slams and reached the final last year at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.