IN her sixth tournament of the year, Alex Eala dives straight into a familiar fight at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: a round of 64 rematch with Hailey Baptiste late Sunday night (Manila time).
The world No. 40 vs. No. 39 are practically side by side.
A year ago, Eala edged Baptiste in the 2025 WTA250 Eastbourne qualifiers, surviving 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 6-1, dropping a brutal opening-set tiebreak before running away with the third.
READ: Alex Eala stuns world No. 56 Baptiste, reaches Eastbourne Open main draw
They meet again, this time on hard surface, not before 11:00 PM.
Alex's jam-packed first two months
This will be Eala’s sixth stop this season following a semifinal at the ASB Classic in Auckland, main-draw debut at the Australian Open, quarterfinal finishes at the Philippine Women's Open and Abu Dhabi Open, and round of 64 exit at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
She’s coming off a 6(6)-7(8), 1-6 loss to Tereza Valentova in Doha.
Baptiste isn’t entering fresh off a win either, as she fell to Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, in the Abu Dhabi semifinals.
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