ROYAL WELCOME

A jampacked Sobeys Stadium in Toronto is expected to give newly-crowned Alex Eala a royal treatment when she makes her debut in the Canadian Open on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Filipina said she is excited to once again play on Centre Court as she looks to carry the momentum from her Washington Open triumph last Monday into both the women’s singles and doubles events of the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association-rated 1000 tournament.

“I’ve been told that it’s going to be a full house tomorrow, so I’m very excited to see and experience the atmosphere. It’s nice to see that the Filipino community is really showing up and they’re enjoying tennis, and hopefully it will help grow the sport as well. In the end, I hope to give them a joyful experience,” Eala said in a pre-match press conference after arriving in Toronto last Monday.

“It’s been an amazing 24 hours for me. Of course, so many emotions, so many things to process, and processing the transition from one tournament to another. I’m very excited to reset and be here in Toronto for the first time.”

Eala, who beat world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in a dramatic Washington Open finale last Tuesday, will clash with world No. 71 Alycia Parks of the United States in the Round of 64 on Thursday at 8:10 a.m. (Manila time).

Adding to the spectacle of Eala’s first Canadian Open campaign is her much-awaited reunion with seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. Actually, Eala was supposed to team up with Williams in Washington, but the fast-rising Filipina begged off at the last minute as she opted to focus on the singles event.

Eala said she couldn’t wait to finally reunite and share the court with the 46-year-old Williams after they reached the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany last June.

“I’m really excited to be playing doubles with her again. I said last week that every opportunity I get to share the court with her is super cherished because she’s got a great mentality and there’s so much I can learn from her,” said Eala, who teams up with Williams against Liudmila Samsonova of Russia and Miyu Kato of Japan in the Round of 32 of the women’s doubles at 10 p.m. also on Thursday.

Eala added that she believes she will be in top shape entering the Canadian Open, saying that she feels much better than when she started her campaign in the Washington Open.

“So many takeaways from this tournament. I think I ended the tournament in better shape than I started,” Eala said.

“Each match I kept improving and kept learning things about myself. So, it definitely gives me a lot of confidence.”

Eala will face a tougher field in the Canadian Open, with several of the world’s top players eager to test the newly-crowned champion.

Among them are Pegula, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States, world No. 12 and defending champion Victoria Mbuso of Canada, and world No. 13 Iva Jovic, one of Eala’s close friends.