ALEX Eala is driven to make her mark on clay.
In only her second tournament appearance this season in her favorite court surface, the 19-year-old Filipina takes on in-form Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in her opening Italian Open match at the Foro Italico tennis center.
READ Eala ends up in Sabalenka's quarter in Italian Open draw
Eala has risen to a career-best No. 70 after her clay debut at the Madrid Open, where she hurdled her opening match against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria but blew a one-set lead in her grudge match against world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
That match represented Swiatek’s payback against Eala, who stunned the Polish star with a breakout run at the Miami Open last March that also featured impressive victories over world No. 6 Madison Keys and No. 18 Jelena Ostapenko.
The Italian Open is Eala's third WTA 1000 tournament this season and her last before the French Open, where the Filipina teenager will be seeded into the main draw for the first time in he career.
No wonder the field in Rome is just as loaded with players all gearing up for the clay grand slam, beginning with Swiatek, No. 4 Jessica Pegula, American Coco Gauf, and world No. 1 and Madrid Open winner Aryna Sabalenka.
Eala's opponent, Kostyuk, is ranked No. 27 in the world but is considered a rising force in the game and is best known for her fearless play and giant-killing ways.
Kostyuk made headlines earlier this year in Doha by stunning Gauff 6-2, 7-5 in the Qatar Open. Most recently, she pushed Sabalenka to the limit in a tense semifinal showdown in Madrid that was only decided only by two tight tiebreaks, 7-6(4), 7-6(7).
Eala and Kostyuk are scheduled to clash around 10:30 p.m. (Manila time) on Wednesday, as the fifth match on the Grand Stand Arena.
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