Eala begins Italian Open bid vs Ukrainian World No. 27

MANILA Philippines — Alex Eala faces a tall order against World No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in Round 1 of the star-studded Italian Open Wednesday in Rome.

Action kicks off at 4 p.m. (Manila time), with the 19-year-old Filipina pride looking for a good stepping stone to her French Open stint on May 25 to June 8 in Paris.

The 128-player Italian Open serves as Eala’s final tournament before that much-awaited major, where she will be the first Filipina player to ever play in the main draw as a Top-100 player.

Eala reached a new career-best ranking of No. 70 on Monday, ensuring a direct invite to all W1000 and Grand Slam tournaments like the Roland Garros and the Italian Open.

But first things first for Eala, who’s eyeing to avenge her early exit in the Madrid Open last month.

On the heels of a historic Miami Open run, Eala beat Bulgaria’s Victoriya Tomova, 6-3, 6-2, in Round 1 but ran out of steam against a familiar opponent in Poland’s Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.

A deeper campaign is expected from Eala in Rome this time around that could set her up to gigantic duels against Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus down the bracket.

Sabalenka, seeded as No. 1, just came off a Madrid Open championship, against now world No. 3 Coco Gauff in the United States and will be in for some revenge in Rome after a runner-up finish to Swiatek last year.

Second-seeded Swiatek, Gauff and World No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States, the last of whom beat Eala in the semis of the Miami Open also won by Sabalenka, are on the other bracket of the Italian tourney.

Eala will share the same clay court once again with the said tennis giants in the French Open.