By MARK REY MONTEJO
Despite falling short of a title run, Alex Eala still earned a fortune at the recently concluded WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE.
The 20-year-old Eala had promising runs as she advanced to quarterfinals and semis of singles and doubles events, respectively, where she bagged a combined amount of $45,859 (P2,683,314).
Eala, currently No. 45 in the WTA rankings, earned her bigger payday in the singles of $35,000 (around P2 million) despite losing to eventual bridesmaid in No. 2 seed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarters, 3-6, 3-6.
While she took home P635,429 in the doubles – a half of $21,720 semis purse which she shared the same amount with her Indonesian partner Janice Tjen. The two Southeast Asian stars succumbed in the said round to Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain’s Olivia Nicholls, 4-6, 2-6.
But the journey in the Middle East extends for Eala as she struts her wares in two WTA 1000 competitions.
These are the Qatar Open in Doha (Feb. 8-14), and the Dubai Tennis Championships (Feb. 15-21) which both attracted high-ranking players across the globe.
In Qatar, Eala is already assured of winning $18,300 (P1 million) in Round of 64 where she seeks a redemption win over Czech teen ace Tereza Valentova.
Eala and Valentová first crossed paths in the opening round of the WTA 250 Japan Open, where the latter came away with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
