By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Alex Eala’s campaign for a major tennis singles title will resume today and will take place in the prestigious Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain.
After suffering an early exit during the recently concluded Oeiras Ladies Open tourney in Portugal, Eala will look to have a better finish and perform better when the 2025 Madrid Open kicks off.
Eala will begin her campaign in Madrid against Viktoriya Tomova, a 30-year-old veteran from Bulgaria, who held the world no. 46 rank as her highest spot obtained in the WTA.
Ranked as the top-seeded favorite in Portugal, Eala stumbled in the Round of 16 stage when she lost in straight sets against Panna Udvardy of Hungary- 6.7, 4.6.
Despite a one-sided beating of Eala handed to Anouk Koevermans in the Round of 32, the Filipina ace failed to capitalize on the momentum and folded to Udvardy’s western grip ground strokes.
Eala had a good baseline rhythm in the first 14 minutes of action but as soon as Udvardy switched to her unorthodox hitting pattern, the 19-year-old stalwart began to commit a string of unforced errors, allowing the Hungarian to snatch the tightly contested opening set.
In the following frame, Udvardy caught Eala off guard midway through the set and scored a momentum-boosting break point en route to an upset win in the Oeiras Ladies Open.
Days after absorbing the loss, Eala didn’t waste any time and went back to work with his coaching staff to prepare for the Madrid Open.
The tournament will have the same clay surface as the Oeiras Ladies Open and will be joined by the other top-seeded WTA players like Iga Swiatek, Erika Andreeva, Viktoria Azarenka, Emma Raducanu, and Naomi Osaka.
Other WTA stars that will aim to clinch the coveted golden trophy in Madrid are Elena Rybakina, Emma Navarro, Paula Badosa, Madison Keys, Elina Svitolina, and world no. 1 ranked Aryna Sabalenka.
Can Eala repeat her Cinderella run during the Miami Open?
