Eala braces for Austrian tourney

Alex Eala braces for tough competition in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open slated 6 to 12 April.

The Filipino tennis sensation will march into the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 event as the No. 6 seed in the initial 19-seed list released Saturday to kick off the clay season at the Design Center Linz.

Eala will be joined by world No. 10 and top seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, second-seeded No. 13 Ekaterina Alexandrova and third-seeded No. 17 Clara Tauson of Denmark will enter the Design Center Linz.

Following a Round of 16 exit in the Miami Open last March, the 20-year-old Eala flew back to Mallorca, Spain and trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy.

She even hooked up with world No. 3 Iga Swiatek in Poland, who is now under the guidance of former Nadal mentor Francisco Roig.

Eala, however, is expected to drop to No. 46 from her current ranking of 45th after falling short of reaching the semifinals of the Miami Open and failing to defend the 390 points she won last year.

“I wouldn’t say it’s such a big deal or such a weight, just because I’ve done a lot of the work before this tournament. I’m still happy with my progress and the trajectory of my improvement,” said Eala, who dipped to her current ranking after a career-high No. 29.

“After this, I’m going to focus on keeping that trajectory.”

The 20-year-old Eala has a handful of major clay tournaments on her calendar, starting with the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, from 13 to 19 April.

Then she will return to Spain for the Mutua Madrid Open, the first WTA 1000 clay tournament of the season, from 21 April to 3 May at the Caja Magica.

If her schedule allows, Eala could opt to join the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome from 6 to 17 May.

But her biggest test will be the French Open, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, slated from 24 May to 6 June at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.

Eala made her Grand Slam debut in the French Open a year ago.