ALEX Eala is expected to get a rock-star treatment when she opens her US Open women’s singles event campaign at the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Wednesday (Manila time).
Photograph courtesy of USTA
With her US Open campaign now in the books, Alex Eala is setting her sights on a new challenge as she flies back to Asia for the Singapore Tennis Open set from 21 to 27 September at the OCBC Arena.
The 21-year-old Eala is included in the official list together with a star-studded field bannered by world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, and former Wimbledon Championship and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova in this prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 event.
Eala has some measure of success in a WTA 500 tournament.
The last time she competed in a WTA 500 tournament was in the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington last August, where she beat Pegula to secure a historic title.
Now, she’s back in Asia and will compete in the 3,000-seater arena that once served as the main hub when Singapore hosted the 28th Southeast Asian Games in 2015.
Eala said she is thrilled to return to Singapore for the first time since competing as a junior player in the WTA Future Stars in 2016 and 2017 when she won a U12 title and the Li Na Inspiration Award.
“Singapore has a really special place in my heart and I still remember competing there at the WTA Future Stars as a junior player. I have always enjoyed playing in Singapore because it’s so close to home and it’s great to have a WTA500 event in Southeast Asia,” said Eala, who is expected to draw yet another massive crowd composed of Singapore-based Filipino workers and expatriates.
“I’m looking forward to enjoying a great week at the Singapore Tennis Open.”
But winning the crown will not be easy for the Filipina, who will be using the event as a warmup for the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya starting 28 September.
Aside from Pegula, who is determined to score a payback from her heartbreaking setback at the hands of the fast-rising Filipina star in Washington, also seeing action are reigning champion Elise Mertens, two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova, Indonesian superstar Janice Tjen and top Chinese player Wang Xinyu.
Other notable players in the field are Philippine Women’s Open runner-up Donna Vekic, Diana Shnaider, Sorana Cirstea, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Barbora Krejcíkova, Ann Li and Clara Tauson, whom Eala beat in her the first round of her US Open main draw debut last year.
Pegula, who beat Cirstea in the Round of 16 of the US Open at press time, is thrilled to see action in Singapore and, once and for all, settle the score with Eala, who will play in her own region this time.
