AFTER yet another early exit from a clay tournament, Alexandra “Alex” Eala makes a quick turnaround to Germany for her debut in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart next week.
Ms. Eala melted down against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in a Round 2 sweep in Austria but will have a chance to make up for it in the German tourney after gaining a last-minute main draw ticket for her second clay outing.
The 20-year-old advanced straight to the main tournament of the German tournament scheduled for April 13-19 as a replacement for Paris Olympic gold medalist and No. 37 Qinwen Zheng of China.
“Unfortunately, Qinwen has to withdraw due to injury but fans can now look forward to seeing Alexandra step in,” Porsche Tennis Grand Prix organizers said.
It will not be a walk in the park for the 46th ranked Filipina, who will also play in the Mutua Madrid Open on April 21 to May 3, leading up to the French Open on May 24 to June 7.
A taller mountain awaits Ms. Eala in Germany after crashing out of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open on Wednesday.
In the draw are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 3 Coco Gauff of the US, No. 4 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
World No. 23 and reigning champion Ms. Ostapenko will also be in Stuttgart after slaying Ms. Eala for the first time in Linz.
Ms. Ostapenko, the 2024 Linz Open and 2017 French Open champion, flashed her veteran pedigree in scoring a 6-4, 7-5 come-from-behind win against Ms. Eala.
Ms. Eala, who scored a 6-4, 6-3 first-round win against Austria’s No. 1 player Julia Grabher (WTA No. 89), held the upper hand in both sets — 4-2 and 5-1 — only to get shut out by the 28-year-old Latvian the rest of the way.
“Thank you, Linz,” said Ms. Eala, looking to climb up the WTA rankings once more as she absorbed a 17-spot drop from a career-best No. 29 last month after falling short of replicating a Final Four finish in the Miami Open.
“Alex is a good player but this year, some good things are happening. I’m beating players who I never beat before so it means I’m on the right path,” said Ms. Ostapenko, who will face WTA No. 87 Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, who posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback win over No. 49 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, in the quarterfinals.
Ms. Eala beat Ms. Ostapenko in their first two meetings last year with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win in the Miami Open before repeating in the Lexus Eastbourne Open in England, 0-6, 6-3, 3-2.
On both occasions, Ms. Eala went on to deep runs by advancing all the way to the semifinals and the finals, respectively, as the first Filipina to do so in any WTA Tour level tournament.
But those tournaments were on hard and grass courts, respectively, with Ms. Eala continuing to struggle on clay.
Ms. Eala last year also bowed out early in four clay tournaments, including a 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 defeat to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in her French Open main draw debut. — John Bryan Ulanday
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