MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis sensation Alexandra "Alex" Eala finally makes her main draw debut at the Australian Open (AO) in Melbourne Monday.
Sitting inside the top 100 of the WTA rankings since March last year after a semifinal run at the Miami Open, Eala gained a direct entry this year Down Under after not getting past the first round of the qualifying stages from 2023 to 2025.
World no. 49 Eala sees action in the round of 128 at 9:40 a.m. in Manila, taking on no. 100 Alycia Parks of the United States at the Melbourne Park Court 6.
“It feels great, I’m super excited," said the 20-year-old Eala on Friday in the tournament's kickstart press conference.
"You know, coming in as a main draw player gives a different vibe, especially with the struggles I had in the past coming here. So, I’m super excited coming here in full force."
Eala said she's in the best shape possible for her main draw debut appearance at the first major of the year after a semifinal run at the ASB Classic in Auckland and an exhibition match at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
"I think I've planned well and my team has done well to arrive here in the best shape possible. It's a Grand Slam, so we're not looking over that fact and I'm ready. I'm here.”
If Eala tops Parks, she will enter the round of 64 and face either Czech Karolina Muchova or Romanian Jacqueline Cristian.
Eala is confident heading to the tournament after her ASB Classic campaign, where she topped Croatians Donna Vekic and Petra Marcinko as well as Polish Magda Linette before yielding to Chinese Wang Xinyu in the semis on January 10.