Alex Eala will be entering three high-level Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) events signaling the start of her campaign on the clay courts in April.
The 20-year-old Eala will kick it off with a pair of WTA 500 tournaments, the Linz Open in Austria from 6 to 12 April and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, from 13 to 19 April.
Both tournaments will serve as a build-up for the Madrid Open, the first WTA 1000 clay tournament of the year, from 30 April to 3 May.
The Rafael Nadal Academy alumnus will be playing in two different scenarios before her big tournament in Spain.
In the Linz Open, Eala will enter the main draw, thanks to being within the top 32 of the WTA rankings.
But in Germany, she will have to go through a qualifying round to even make it to the main draw.
As Eala is expected to drop to No. 45 from her career-best No. 29, the upcoming clay tournaments will be crucial for her.
If Eala can make a handful of great runs, she will return to the top 32 of the WTA before the French Open from 18 May to 7 June at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.
Not only will she be able to secure a main draw slot in the second Grand Slam of the year but she will also earn a bye and skip the first round.
Eala got a taste of that privilege during her stints in BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open in the United States.
She made it as far as the Last 16 in both competitions, giving her a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the clay season.