Eala back on grass court in Ilkley Open

Alex Eala returns on the grass court as she competes as the top seed in the women’s singles event of the Ilkley Open in Great Britain this week.

The 20-year-old Eala will face one of the qualifying round winners in this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 competition.

The Ilkley Open will be the second grass court tournament for the Rafael Nadal Academy graduate after her stint in the Birmingham Open last week.

Eala suffered a 5-7, 7-6, 1-6 loss against Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic in the Round of 32 of the women’s singles of the Birmingham Open.

The No. 73-ranked netter even joined forces with Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland but they were booted out by the Australian pair of Ellen Perez and Storm Hunter, 4-6, 4-6, in the Last 16.

Eala is preparing for the upcoming Wimbledon Championships, her second Grand Slam event for 2025.

With Eala well within the Top 100 of the WTA rankings, she is poised to secure a main draw slot without going through the qualifiers.

Still, Eala knows she has to do more as she consistently faces the best tennis players of the world such as French Open champion Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka.

“That’s not to say I don’t have the potential to be there one day, but at the moment, I still have a lot more to work on in my game,” Eala said.

“It is a little bit of everything I need to improve on. Mentally, technically. You look at a top 10 player and they have so many matches each year.”