PHILIPPINE tennis pride Alexandra Eala will meet veteran Aliona Falei in the Round of 32 of the women’s singles event at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (Manila time) in the WTA 125 Jingshan Tennis Open.
Eala, currently at world no. 58 in the live rankings, will be facing the no. 459 Falei as she kicks off her Asian campaign in the $160,000 event from September 22 to 28 in Hubei Province, China.
The 21-year-old Falei is a Belarusian pro, who plays with a right-handed, two-handed backhand style. She has been on the Tour for the last four years.
Falei has been successful at International Tennis Federation-level tournaments, winning her fifth ITF crown at W50 Yokohama last year.
For Eala, she comes in from a brief rest in Manila, after a series of wins in Mexico and Brazil.
Eala brings into the game her confidence, after winning her first-ever Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title in the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico, upping her world ranking to No. 57.
After Jingshan, Eala is set to compete at a second WTA 125 event at the Suzhou Ladies Open, from September 29 to October 5.
Next, Eala will be at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, a WTA 250-level event which starts at the end of October.
She will have the option of joining the China Open, the most prestigious event of the Asian swing and is one of the biggest events on the WTA calendar.
The tournament is one of just two WTA 1000 events left to play in the tour this year.
