Alex Eala is proving she's a fighter. The young Filipina star battled through a rollercoaster first-round match at the Italian Open, securing a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 win over Magdalena Frech to advance to the second round.

"I was just very happy that I was able to come back after being down a break and find the confidence in my game and play aggressive again," Eala shared after the match.

It wasn't just about the tennis. Eala credited her support system for keeping her grounded. "The people around me are so supportive. They really make it a point to focus on who I am as a person and not just as an athlete."

So what did she tell her coaching team during the match? In a candid moment with the Tennis Channel, Eala revealed the key adjustment she made. "I think I told myself that I was not tired enough. I told my team that I was not finishing the points tired enough, so maybe the intensity went down a little bit. I tried my best to give that little extra push every single point, and it paid off."

After a dominant first set, Eala's intensity dipped in the second as Frech fought back to level the match. But the Filipina found her rhythm again when it mattered most, closing out the third set with the aggressive play that had worked so well early on.

The win sets up a compelling second-round showdown against 31st seed Xinyu Wang. These two have history. Their only previous meeting came in the semi-finals of the ASB Classic earlier this season, where Eala took an early lead but couldn't close it out, eventually falling in three sets. Now, she has a chance to level their head-to-head and prove she's learned from that experience.

A win over Wang could set up a potential third-round clash with Elena Rybakina, who's already added an Australian Open title and a clay-court win in Stuttgart to her impressive résumé this year. Eala and Rybakina have yet to meet on the WTA Tour, making it an intriguing potential matchup.

For Eala, the message is clear: she knows the standards required to compete at this level, and she's ready to keep pushing. With her confidence growing and her support team behind her, this could be a breakthrough run in Rome.