RETURNING to the hard court, Alex Eala is set to compete in her fourth WTA 1000-level tournament at the Monium Banque Nationale Presente Par Rogers, also known as the National Bank Open, in Montreal, Canada.
The Filipino tennis ace, currently No. 69 in the world, will face Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova, presently ranked 65th in the world, in the opening round.
Their match is scheduled at 12:10 AM, Monday (Manila time).
This will be Eala’s fourth appearance at this level, following her stints at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May, the Mutua Madrid Open in April, and her breakthrough semifinal run at the Miami Open in March — also played on hard court.
READ: Alex Eala still impressive even as dream run ends in Miami Open semis
The 20-year-old will be facing Vondrousova, age 26 and formerly world No. 6, for the first time.
The Czech veteran owns three career singles titles and enters the tournament with solid momentum, having reached the Round of 64 at Wimbledon earlier this month before falling to Emma Raducanu, 3-6, 3-6.
Vondrousova also captured the WTA 500 title in Berlin this June, pulling off upset wins over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 6 Madison Keys, and No. 12 Diana Shnaider.
Home is where the heart is for Alex
Eala, for her part, had a busy stretch leading up to Montreal. She recently exited in the first round of Wimbledon against defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, 6-3, 2-6, 1-6. Before that, she had a strong run at the Eastbourne Open, but fell short in the final against Maya Joint.
READ: Young Alex Eala keeps faith in 'fair-weather' Filipino fans. Here's why
Following her Grand Slam debut on grass, Eala took a brief one-week break to come home to the Philippines before resuming her WTA campaign.
The National Bank Open boasts a loaded field that includes top names such as Coco Gauff (No. 2), Iga Swiatek (No. 3), defending champion Jessica Pegula (No. 4), and rising star Mirra Andreeva (No. 5), who are seeded first through fourth, respectively.
Should Eala advance past the Round of 128, she will next face No. 24 seed Marta Kostyuk, who received a first-round bye.
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