Eala joins star-studded Doha cast

Alex Eala’s Middle East tour makes a stop in Doha as she competes in the Qatar Open on Sunday at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

A few days after her Abu Dhabi Open campaign, the world No. 45 Eala will join the main draw of her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 event of the year.

The 20-year-old Filipina ace came off a loss in the women’s doubles with Janice Tjen of Indonesia as they absorbed a 4-6, 2-6 defeat to Tereza Mihalíková of the Czech Republic and Olivia Nicholls of Great Britain in the semifinal last Friday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.

Nicholls, who is No. 26 in the WTA doubles rankings, said she and Mihalíková had a hard time as the Southeast Asian duo had the crowd’s support.

“I mean obviously the girls we are playing against have great support from their home, so it was tough at times, a lot of cheering,” Nicholls said.

“But we are super happy to play in front of so many people, because we don’t get to do that very often, so thanks to all the fans that came out, hopefully see you in the final!”

With Qatar being the second home for 260,000 Filipinos, expect the Rafael Nadal Academy alumna’s matches to sell out once more just like what happened in Abu Dhabi.

However, Eala’s path to the Qatar Open title is littered with rials as she takes on multiple powerhouse names.

While her opponent in the Round of 64 has yet to be named at press time, Eala’s opponent in the qualifier could be someone she has faced in the past.

Netters like Moyuka Uchijima of Japan, Alycia Parks of the United States, Solana Sierra of Argentina and Philippine Women’s Open champion Camila Osorio of Colombia could give Eala an early test should they make it out of the qualifying rounds at press time.

It gets harder for Eala as she will face either world No. 35 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania or No. 19 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the Round of 32.

From there, the road to glory gets tighter for Eala in the Qatar Open as names like world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan are expected to make their way up.