Alex Eala reunites with world No. 20 Iva Jovic of the United States as they start their campaign in the BNP Paribas Open on Friday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.

The 20-year-old Eala joins the 18-year-old Jovic as they face American netter Hailey Baptiste and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the Round of 32 on Friday at 3 a.m. (Manila time).

Eala, who sits in No. 32 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, last teamed up with fellow youngster Jovic in the Auckland Open in New Zealand last January, where they made it as far as the semifinals before getting swept by the Chinese duo of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.

But their biggest win together in the same tournament was when they took down veterans Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the Round of 16.

Jovic, considered as one of rising stars in the WTA, had nothing but praise for Eala during their time together.

“It’s been a pleasure to share the court with you, Alex. First time playing doubles together, and to play against the legends of the game is unbelievable,” Jovic said.

Eala said she enjoyed playing alongside Jovic back in January, especially against veterans like Williams and Svitolina.

“I think we had a lot of fun and, you know, just to start the year with such a moment like this and sharing the court with two pioneers of the sport, people I looked up to since I was young,” Eala said.

The doubles match will be Eala’s first-ever game at Indian Wells, as her singles match is on Saturday, with the time and opponent yet to be announced.

Thanks to her new WTA ranking, she has the privilege of advancing to the Round of 64 as she takes on the winner between 2024 Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yatremska of Ukraine and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion and Chinese netter Zhang Shuai.

But first, Eala’s focus will be on her doubles match with Jovic as they look to start their respective campaigns with a morale-boosting victory.

Eala is expected to enter this prestigious WTA 1000-level tournament well-rested and full of energy after a two-week break, after playing non-stop since January.

The Filipino-American tandem is expected to have an edge over Baptiste and Ostapenko, who both lost to Eala in previous competitions.

Eala, a Rafael Nadal Academy alumna, defeated Ostapenko, a 2017 French Open champion, in both of their encounters on the WTA Tour. First was in March last year at the Miami Open in Florida where the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist pulled the rug under the world No. 26 Latvian netter in the Round of 64.

Eala then knocked Ostapenko again, this time in the Round of 16 of the Eastbourne Open in the United Kingdom last June.

Like Ostapenko, Eala won twice over Baptiste.

She first defeated the world No. 43 American in the qualifying round of the Eastbourne Open last June and again in the last February in the Round of 64 of the Dubai Tennis Championships where Baptiste was forced to retire due to an injury.

Both Eala and Jovic are already assured of $19,150, or roughly P1.1 million, for just entering the main draw, while they will receive $35,700, or P2 million, if they advance to the Round of 16.

They will face either the partnership of world No. 10 Victoria Mboko of Canada and No. 8 Mirra Andreeva of Russia or Zhang and No. 21 Elise Mertens of Belgium should they make it into the Last 16.