Alex Eala’s clay court season ended abruptly after she and supposed doubles partner Victoria Mboko withdrew from the doubles tournament of Roland Garros. Now, she can shift her focus to grass as the season’s next chapter unfolds.
As the 21-year-old Filipina plots her schedule for grass season, she’ll be coming in with little to no momentum after a trying few months playing on the red surface. Here’s a brief recap of Alex Eala’s challenging clay court season:
Clay Court Season Recap
Linz Open
Eala managed to reach the round of 16 afte beating Julia Grabher but lost against Jelena Ostanpenko.
Stuttgart Open
The pride of Quezon City lost in the Round of 32 to Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez, a five-time WTA champion whose excellence proved far too much.
Madrid Open
The Rafa Nadal Academy alumna held her own against qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Round of 128. But in the Round of 64, Elise Martense knocked her out of the tournament convincingly.
Eala then teamed up with close friend Zeynep Sonmez in doubles. They won their first assignment by beating Hao-Ching Chan and Fanny Stollar but got dismantled by Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.
Italian Open
The 21-year-old barely survived her first three-set battle on clay this year against Magdalena Frech in the Round of 128. She then avenged her loss to Xinyu Wang in the ASB Classic earlier this year with a victory in the Round of 64. Eala’s run ended with a beating from world No. 2 Elena Rybakina as experience outpowered potential.
In doubles, Alex Eala partnered with Hailey Baptiste but couldn’t get past the tandem of Siniakova-Townsend once again in the very first round.
Strasbourg Open
Ranged against a lower-ranked opponent, Alex Eala still lost to Oleksandra Oliynykova in the Round of 32.
Roland Garros
Alex Eala crashed out in the very first round in Roland Garros, losing to former doubles partner Iva Jovic in convincing fashion yet again. The Filipina’s Roland Garros experiened ended with her and Mboko’s abrupt withdrawal.
Clay Court Stil Alex Eala’s Kryptonite
Last season, Alex Eala had two wins and four losses this time of the year. This season, she compiled a 4-6 slate in singles and 1-2 in doubles.
These losing records undeniably proves one thing: Eala has a difficult time playing on clay. She’s shown flashes of brilliance, but these have come too few and far between,. The struggles were evident throughout, too, as well as the inconsistency. Needless to say, clay has seemingly become Eala’s kryptonite.
Grass Court Bounce Back
Next up for Alex Eala is grass court season, and based on her performance last year on this surface, fans of the Filipino wunderkind can expect better days ahead.
Last year, Eala had a record of 10 wins and 5 losses across five WTA grass court tournaments. Her best finish was a finals trip at the WTA 250 Eastbourne Open, where she lost in a three-set battle against Maya Joint.
This upcoming June 1, the world ranked no. 37 will begin her grass court journey at the WTA 125 Birmingham Open, where she is seeded number two in the tournament behind fellow Southeast Asian tennis star Janice Tjen of Indonesia.
Alex Eala Next Tournaments
Tournament: WTA 125 Lexus Birmingham Open
Date: June 1 to 7
Category: Singles (Main Draw, Round of 32)
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Tournament: WTA 500 Queen’s Club Championship / The HSBC Championships
Date: June 8 to 14
Category: Singles (Qualifying Round)
