Eala vies in Aussie Open warm-up

Alex Eala will be kicking off her preparations for the Australian Open as she joins the Macau Masters from 27 to 28 December.

The 20-year-old Eala, who is currently sitting at Top 50 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, will be joining along with world No. 9 Mirra Andreeva of Russia and tennis legends Li Na of China and Conchita Martinez of Spain, who will serve as team captains in this exhibition tournament.

Also in the tournament are Association of Tennis Players (ATP) home bet Shang Juncheng, world No. 10 Jack Draper, and world No. 19 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic.

Li, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 2, said she hopes to put on a show for the crowd as they end the year with a bang.

“We had a lot of fun at last year’s tournament, and this year’s tournament will be just as exciting. Everyone is highly competitive, and with so many outstanding players participating, the tournament will definitely be even more thrilling,” Li said in an article on the tournament’s website.

“My team didn’t win the championship last time, so I will be more determined to turn things around this year. Although I have never played against Martinez before, I am ready to compete against her in Macau as captain.”

Eala will join the competition after representing the country at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand from 9 to 20 December.

“SEA Games is in my plans. It’s definitely in my plans,” Eala said.

The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate is currently in Manila resting after a grueling season which saw her win her first-ever WTA title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico last September.

She and world No. 53 Janice Tjen of Indonesia, who defeated Eala in the quarterfinal of the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil last September, are expected to headline the women’s singles event of the prestigious biennial meet as they are the only players in the region inside the Top 100 of the WTA.