MANILA, Philippines — With a second shot against world No. 20 Elise Mertens at stake, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala will battle a qualifier to begin her campaign at the Madrid Open in Spain.
The draw for the 1000-tier tournament was held early Monday in Manila, with Eala drawn to face a player from the 2-round qualifying tournament which starts Monday.
World No. 44 Eala will face that qualifier either on Wednesday or Thursday.
If Eala beats that opponent, the 20-year-old will forge a rematch against 30-year-old Mertens of Belgium.
As one of the top 32 players, the 10-time champ Mertens is seeded in this Madrid tournament and received a first-round bye.
Eala first took on Mertens at the Jasmin Open Monastir in Tunisia in October 2023.
The Filipino lefty succumbed to the Belgian, 5-7, 0-6, in the round of 32 of the 250-tier tournament which Mertens eventually won.
At that time, Eala was ranked No. 196 while Mertens No. 36 with a career-high No. 12 achieved in November 2018.
Eala has grown leaps and bounds since then, achieving a career-high rank of No. 29 on March 16.
Eala and Mertens last saw action at the 500 Stuttgart Open in Germany.
Eala exited in the round of 32 with a 1-6, 4-6 loss to Leylah Fernandez.
On the other hand, Mertens bowed out in the round of 16 with a 6-1, 3-6, 0-6 loss to eventual tournament runner-up Karolina Muchova.