Eala faces daunting task vs American ace

Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala looks to pull off an upset when she faces world No. 73 and home bet Katie Volynets in the round of 128 of the Miami Open on Wednesday at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Eala, No. 140 in the world, is also bidding to make a deep run in this competition.

The three-time Junior Grand Slam champion is also looking to bounce back after a round of 16 exit at the W75 Trnava in Slovakia earlier this month where she lost against Valentina Ryser of Switzerland, 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.

So far, Eala’s greatest victory over a netter that is in the top 100 was against No. 41 Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in 2024.

So far, Eala only made it past the opening round twice in the 2021 WTA 250 Cluj-Napoca Winners Open in Romania and the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain last year.

But beating Volynets only makes the road harder for Eala.

In the round of 64, awaiting Eala will be met by 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.