Eala clashes with Fernandez

Alex Eala faces world No. 25 Filipino-Canadian netter Leylah Fernandez as she makes her debut in the Stuttgart Open at the Porsche Arena in Germany on Monday.

Opening serve starts at 4 p.m. (Manila time) as the 20-year-old Eala, rated No. 46, and Fernandez face off in the women’s singles for the first time in their respective careers.

Both Eala and the 23-year-old Fernandez last faced each other last February in the doubles play of the Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates.

Eala and Janice Tjen of Indonesia defeated Fernandez and Kristina Mlandenovic of France in the Round of 16, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6.

While Eala joins her second Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 clay tournament of the year, the Stuttgart Open is expected to be a blockbuster event as the world’s top-ranked players have confirmed their participation there.

World No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States will compete in the German tilt which dangles a cash prize of $102,446 or around P72 million.

To make sure she is ready for the Stuttgart Open, Eala trained with Swiatek, who is now under the watch of former Rafael Nadal coach Francisco Roig.

The Filipina ace is using the tournament to improve her ranking after dropping to No. 46 entering the clay season.

Eala also hopes to bounce back after suffering a 4-6, 5-7 loss to world No. 23 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the Last 16 of the Linz Open last week.

She is using the tournament as part of her preparation for the Madrid Open in Spain from 21 April to 3 May.

Eala is also hoping to get back into the top 32 before the French Open starts on 18 May at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.