A QUALIFIER will be Alex Eala’s opponent in the opening round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg being held in France.
This was based on the official draw released by the organizers on Sunday.
Should Eala advance to the second round, she is set to face the winner between Czech Republic bets eighth seed Marie Bouzkova and Katerina Siniakova.
Eala had the opportunity to rest and train further, as she no longer needs to go through the grueling qualifying rounds just to secure a spot in the main draw.
The organizers themselves confirmed that Eala already holds a guaranteed place in the knockout stage.
In the released Strasbourg draw, Eala’s name was notably absent from the qualifying event.
As a result, Filipino fans quickly flooded the tournament’s social media accounts with messages.
The Strasbourg organizers reiterated that Eala will not pass through qualifying, having already secured her ticket to the main draw.
The WTA 500-level tournament serves as part of Eala’s buildup for the French Open, which runs from May 24 to June 7 in Paris.
Eala will face a tough challenge in Strasbourg as American players Madison Keys, Hailey Baptiste, and Iva Jovic are also in the field.
Also seeing action are Ekaterina Alexandrova, Leylah Fernandez, Magdalena Frech, Maya Joint, Wang Xinyu, Clara Tauson, Liudmila Samsonova, Maria Sakkari, Emma Navarro, Ann Li, Jaqueline Cristian, Cristina Buca, Marie Bouzkova, and Sara Bejlek.
Eala is hoping to build strong momentum in Strasbourg following her campaign in recent clay tournaments. She previously competed in the Linz Open in Austria, Madrid Open in Spain, Stuttgart Open in Germany, and most recently, the Italian Open in Rome.
Eala reached the third round of the Italian Open, where she earned an impressive P3.8 million in prize money from her singles and doubles campaigns.
She is aiming to further improve her standing in the WTA rankings, where she currently sits at No. 38 in the live rankings.
The WTA will release its updated rankings on Monday after the conclusion of the Italian Open. TMT
