Duel in the desert: Eala battles Turk in Abu Dhabi Open

A familiar foe awaits Alex Eala as she begins her main draw campaign in the Abu Dhabi Open on Monday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in the United Arab Emirates.

Eala, 20, will take on world No. 112 Zeynep Sönmez of Turkey in the Round of 32 with the time yet to be finalized as of this writing.

The No. 49-ranked Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) player is coming off a quarterfinal finish at the Philippine Women’s Open last Thursday where she lost to Camila Osorio of Colombia, 4-6, 4-6, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Osorio would go on to win the prestigious WTA 125 event organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association after a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over former world No. 17 Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Eala said she will have to do better after recognizing some lapses in her style of play during her stint in Manila as she is poised to reach a new career-best rank of No. 45 in the WTA.

“I think there were certain aspects of my game that just didn’t show up today. I think there were certain things I really could have done better, but it doesn’t have to be a big deal,” Eala said.

“I think I have some good things to take away as well from this week in general. But yeah, we take it in our stride and move on. I just do my best to learn from what I can in this match.”

Eala will also join forces with Janice Tjen of Indonesia in the women’s doubles event as they face Filipino-Canadian Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic of France in the Last 16.

It will be the first time Eala and Tjen will join forces in their respective professional careers as they have only faced each other once at the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil last September.

But all eyes will be on Eala’s match against Sönmez as she continues her pursuit of a second WTA title.

Eala faced Sönmez twice in her career and won both matches.

She first defeated the 23-year-old Turkish netter in the Round of 16 of the 2023 W60 Nantes in France, 7-6(5), 6-4, before repeating at the Eastbourne Open qualifiers, 6-1, 6-3, last June in the United Kingdom.

The Eastbourne Open happens to be Eala’s first WTA final of her career where she fell to world No. 31 Maya Joint of Australia, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, in the championship round.

However, Sönmez will also be entering the Abu Dhabi Open oozing with confidence after making it as far as the third round of the Australian Open last January.

Sönmez clawed her way up from the qualifying round in the Australian Open to make it into the main draw where she made it as far as the third round before losing to Yulia Putintseva of Ukraine, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6.

A win over Sönmez could set Eala up with a Last 16 match against Paula Badosa of Spain.

The world No. 26 Badosa was supposed to face Eala in the Round of 16 of the Miami Open last March but backed out due to a back injury.

Regardless, Eala assured her fans that she and her team are doing their best to ensure she is in her best form.

“I’m working hard. My team is working hard and we’re working hard to maintain the level that I’m at and working even harder to go deeper and higher into the rankings inch by inch,” Eala said.