ALEX Eala has pulled out of the Catalonia Open in Spain, where she was originally seeded sixth in the WTA 125 tournament.
Eala was initially listed among the 32 players in the main draw but when the final list of competitors was released on Sunday, April 27, her name was no longer there.
Australia's Maya Joint has since taken over as the tournament's sixth seed.
READ: Alex Eala gets recognition from PH Ambassador to Spain
The 19-year-old Filipina is in the thick of preparations for the French Open, the first major where she is in the main draw.
But it is surprising that she has decided to skip the Catalonia event which could have been a nice tune up to the major specially because it has a relatively weak line up where she could go deep.
Of course, that is not a guarantee as her last WTA 250 tournament in Portugal ended unceremoniously in the second round but still, the more games she tallies, the more experience she will get.
Next for her will likely be the upcoming WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) in Rome, scheduled for May 6 to 18.
Currently ranked No. 71 in the world, Eala's last tournament was the Mutua Madrid Open, a WTA 1000 event, where she lost to world No. 2 Iga Swiatek whom she had beaten during her sensational run at the Miami Open three weeks ago.
During that magical week, Eala beat four superior players that included major winners Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys.
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