SINGAPORE — Alex Eala’s road to her second Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 title will be very challenging as she is on a collision course with a seasoned foe and a pair of old tormentors in the main draw of the Singapore Tennis Open that kicks  off on Monday at the OCBC Arena at The Kallang here.

Seeded third in this prestigious event that serves as her warm up for the 20th Asian Games, the 21-year-old Filipina sensation is on the bottom half of the draw, where she will battle Croatian veteran Donna Vekic before a blockbuster battle with world No. 11 Amanda Anisimova of the United States in the semifinals.

Should Eala pull the rug from under Anisimova, she will slug it out with world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva — the French Open champion Russia who emerged as the top seed following the withdrawal of world No. 3 Jessica Pegula due to injury.

Eala drew a first-round bye but will open her campaign on Tuesday in the Round of 16 either against Tatiana Prozorova of Russia or Sofia Costoulas of Belgium.

She said the Lion City is like her second home so she will go hard to bring joy to thousands of Filipinos, who are eagerly waiting to see her lift the ultimate prize.

“I love Singapore. I used to compete here very often as a kid because this was one of the hubs for tennis in Southeast Asia,” said Eala said, who was awarded with the Li Na Inspiration Award when she competed in Singapore as a junior player in 2016. 

“There’s also obviously a very huge Filipino community here. I do have close relatives here that, whenever I was in town, I’d go see.”

But her path to glory is littered with landmines.

She may have beaten Vekic a couple of times in the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Berlin Tennis Open in Berlin, but the 30-year-old right-hand netter is capable of pulling off an upset. In fact, she emerged as runner-up to Qinwen Zheng of China in the gold medal match of the women’s singles event of the Paris Olympics in 2024.

But more than that, she is also close to the hearts of Filipino fans as she was affectionately called “Tita Donna” during her visit to the country last January for the Philippine Women’s Tennis Open, a WTA 125 event hosted by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association.

If Vekic does not progress, Eala will be stacked against another dangerous foe in world No. 40 Wang Xinyu of China.

Anisimova is also a tough nut to crack.

The 25-year-old from New Jersey had beaten Eala in the Round of 32 of the Cincinnati Masters last August, a loss that came at the heels of the Filipina’s masterful conquest of the Mubadala DC Open in Washington for her first ever WTA 500 crown.

After her victory in Cincinnati, Anisimova took the time to express her deep admiration to the fast-rising Filipina netter.

“I know Alex is such a great player and such a fighter. I knew it was gonna be a really tough match,” she said. “There was quite a bit of support for me tonight so I really appreciate that, because I know how loved Alex is… And for good reason. But I really appreciated it because I felt like I needed to pick myself up in this match because it’s past my bedtime.”

The real danger for Eala, however, is in the final.

The 19-year-old Andreeva is regarded as the future of professional tennis after submitting some quality results in the Grand Slam this year. Aside from winning the French Open, she also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open and made a fourth-round run in the Australian Open, making her one of the most consistent players in the tour.

She had beaten Eala thrice this year — also in Auckland and Berlin — as well as in Macau, where they played a friendly duel last year.

However, Andreeva’s chances to make it all the way to the final is not yet cast in stone as she has to avoid getting upset by any among Alycia Parks, Janice Tjen or Leylah Fernandez in the second round of this very competitive tournament. 

Eala and other competitors are scheduled to grace the Players’ Welcome Party late Sunday at the Hilton Singapore Orchard, where they can have some down time before buckling down to main draw action.