MANILA, Philippines — With another shot at reigning Wimbledon queen Linda Noskova in sight, newly-minted D.C. Open champ Alexandra "Alex" Eala faces Alycia Parks at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open Sobeys Stadium Centre Court in Toronto on Thursday.
The round of 64 (second round) match between the Filipino tennis ace and the American hitter is set for 8 a.m. the earliest in Manila.
Seeded No. 25, world No. 20 Eala received a first-round bye, granting her direct passage to the second round.
World No. 71 Parks defeated No. 122 Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva in the first round, 6-4, 6-4, to forge a rematch with Eala whom she topped at the Australian Open first round, 6-0, 3-6, 2-6, last January.
Just a day removed from winning her first Tour-level title in Washington, Eala touched on how she's transitioning from celebration to preparation for another match.
"It's been a crazy 24 hours and my mind's just been going back and forth between focusing on the next match and 'wow, did I really just do that?' It's a first for me. So, I'm learning how to handle it," said Eala in her pre-tournament presser.
"But yeah, I do understand that I'm playing another match tomorrow, so all my attention is going to be on that. You know, I'm slowly transitioning. I have a day to transition and I have I guess all my life to celebrate my first WTA title."
The 21-year-old Eala aims for a payback win against the 25-year-old Parks to arrange another match against world No. 7 and tournament No. 6 seed Noskova.
Noskova is heavily-favored to win her second round match against No. 70 Caty McNally also on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Czech sensation hold a 2-0 head-to-head record against Eala with her 6-2, 6-0 win at the Indian Wells round of 16 last March, and a 6-2, 6-4 victory at the Berlin Open semifinals last June.
