By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Tennis darling Alex Eala returns to action, this time as the top-seeded player in the Jingshan Tennis Open which started on Monday, Sept. 22, in Beijing, China.
The 20-year-old trailblazer, however, clashes with Belarusian Aliona Falei in the Round of 32 the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA125) tournament on Tuesday at 10 a.m. It’s an event rated just below the WTA Tour.
This marks the first time that Eala and Falei would be meeting in a WTA circuit, with the Filipina coming off a quarterfinals finish at the Sao Paulo Open in Brazil two weeks ago.
Eala boasts of a WTA singles ranking of No. 58, although she has recently reached a career-high ranking of No. 56 last June.
Early this month, she achieved a historic feat of winning her first-ever WTA title at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.
The 21-year-old Falei is currently ranked No. 322, with a career-high of No. 173 achieved in May last year. She has been a regular fixture on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit, and last weekend, she reigned at the W35 event in Shenyang, China.
Also competing in the tournament are Australian second seed Talia Gibson, Kiwi third seed Lulu Sun, and British fourth seed Jodie Burrage, to name a few.
