Beautiful problem: Philta raises concern over Eala’s potential sked conflict

SINGAPORE — With the withdrawal of second seed Amanda Anisimova, Alex Eala is heavily expected to make a deep run in the Singapore Tennis Open that is being held at the OCBC Arena here.

But the problem is: will she still have enough time to make it to the 20th Asian Games?

That’s the beautiful problem that the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association (Philta) is now being confronted with following the withdrawal of Anisimova from the main draw of the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association 500 tournament on Tuesday due to a left wrist injury.

In a telephone conversation with DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday morning, Philta executive director Tonette Mendoza admitted that they will have to race against time to send Eala to Nagoya if she makes it all the way to the final of the Singapore Open.

“The women’s singles event of the Asian Games will start on Sunday, so it’s going to be a challenge if Alex makes it to the final of the Singapore Open, which will also be held on Sunday,” said Mendoza, adding that they are doing their best to put Eala on a six-hour flight to Nagoya as soon as her campaign in Singapore comes to a close.

The Philta executive said they have already reached out to the International Tennis Federation and the Asian Games organizers about the predicament of Eala, who is coming in as the top seed in the most prestigious multi-sport event in Asia.

“We’re hoping that Alex will not be given any schedule on the opening day. Hopefully, her first match will be on Monday — or even Tuesday — for that matter,” added Mendoza, stressing that they still do not know the exact schedule since the start list has yet to be released.

“We already informed the ITF and the organizers about her situation, and we’re hoping for a positive reply. They understand Alex’s situation, and they appreciate the fact that Alex will be playing in the Asian Games despite her very hectic schedule in the WTA tour.”

In the event Eala goes all the way to the final, she will immediately head to Changi Airport to catch a flight that leaves for Japan midnight of Sunday and arrives in Nagoya on Monday morning.

In a previous statement, Eala expressed her readiness to collect her second WTA 500 crown in Singapore.

“I don’t feel pressured,” said Eala during a welcome dinner on Sunday.

“I don’t feel that way. I think there’s a will for me to win. There’s definitely that personal will for me to win, of course. I’m a competitive athlete, so we want to win, right?”

Eala is the toast of the crowd in Singapore — a tiny city-state with around 200,000 Filipino migrant workers.

In fact, the event was supposed to be just a 250-rated tournament, but the WTA decided to upgrade it to 500 upon learning that Eala will join the field. Since then, the so-called “Eala Mania” has gripped the Lion City, with hundreds of Filipino fans lining up since Monday just to see her live in action.

Eala opened her Round of 16 campaign against Russian Tatiana Prozorova on Thursday night. If she wins, she will face the survivor in the duel between Wang Xinyu of China and Joan Garland of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals on Friday. The semifinal matches are set on Saturday and the finals on Sunday where world No. 5 and top seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia is expected to advance.

The 21-year-old Eala, who is also being supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, was supposed to see action in the China Open, a WTA 1000 event, after competing in Singapore.

But she pulled out for a rare chance to win the country’s first Asian Games gold medal since 1962.

“We’ll do our best to make it work,” Mendoza said.

“In fact, we’ll be checking with the ITF and the organizers later if they already have an entry list and final schedule so that they can still make the necessary adjustments. They are aware that Alex will be coming from Singapore, so we’re hoping that she’ll be given a special exemption.”