MANILA, Philippines – At the start of 2025, Alex Eala had to go through the qualifying rounds to make it to the main draw of the WTA 125 Challenger Canberra Tennis International in Australia. Playing six matches in six days, the unseeded Eala made it all the way to the semifinals on January 3 before she lost to then world No. 134 Wei Sijia of China.
Wei is now 123rd in the world ranking, while Eala — following her historic run in the WTA 1000 Miami Open — has risen to 73th in the world.
What a difference a few months make.
Eala will begin her clay court season when she joins the 2025 Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal from April 14 to 20, and for the first time in her pro career, she will be coming in as the top seed of a tournament.
The 19-year-old Eala, though, will be facing some stiff competition in the WTA 125 event, the second highest women’s competition level in the pro circuit just below the WTA Tour and above the ITF tournaments.
Eala will be seeing some familiar faces in Portugal.
Seeded second will be someone who will be looking for some payback against Eala, world No. 80 Katie Volynets of the United States, whom the Filipina eliminated in straight sets in the opening round of the Miami Open in March.
Anna Bondar of Hungary, seeded fourth, gave Eala the worst beating of her pro career: a 6-0, 6-0 double bagel in the 2022 Madrid Open when the Filipina standout was only 16 years old. They met two more times after, with a stronger Eala finally earning a victory in straight sets in February 2024 in the ITF Slovakia.
Eighth seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, then ranked 30th in the world, foiled Eala in three close sets in the second round of the 2024 WTA 1000 Madrid Open.
Four other seeded players with outstanding pedigree will be serious contenders for the title in the $168,100 event, which will be played at the outdoor clay courts of the Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor.
Third seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy reached a career-high 29th in the world rankings in 2023 and showed her affinity with clay court by making the fourth round of the French Open in 2024.
Swiss veteran Viktorija Golubic, 93rd in the world, will be the tournament fifth seed. Golubic, 32, has two WTA singles titles to her name and is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist.
Sixth seed Yuan Yue of China is coming off her best year in the pro circuit when she reached a career-high world ranking of No. 36 in 2024.
Thirty-three-year-old Spaniard Nuria Párrizas Díaz, seeded eighth, is another tough competitor who thrives in WTA Challenger events, having won three titles in the past.
Eala will not only be looking to sustain her impressive showing from the end of the hard court season, she will also be going into next week’s event looking to gain more valuable ranking points and get ready for the next big WTA 1000 event.
A quarterfinal finish in the Oeiras Ladies Open will open the possibility of Eala cracking the top 60 world ranking. She is also aiming for a deep run in Portugal to get herself more matches as she prepares for the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open, which is set to begin on April 22. – Rappler.com