By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala suffered early exits in her first two clay courts tournaments but those defeats failed to make a dent in her glowing status as she secured a main draw spot in the 2026 French Open set May 18 to June 7.
This marks Eala’s second appearance on the clay court Grand Slam event after debuting in the main draw last year that saw her dropping an opening round match to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in three sets.
Prior to the French Open, Eala will be competing in the Mutua Madrid Open scheduled April 21 to May 6, a WTA 1000 event ranked just one tier below the Grand Slams.
The tournament is expected to present a stiffer challenge than the WTA 500 Stuttgart event, with all Top 10 players in the world set to compete.
Eala’s clay court campaign has hit a rough stretch after back-to-back early exits including her most recent – a 6-1, 6-4 first-round loss to Leylah Fernandez at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany on Tuesday, April 14.
Coming off a promising run on hard courts, Eala found herself struggling at a slow, high-bouncing surface. She first absorbed a 6-4, 7-5 beating from Jelena Ostapenko in the second round of the Linz Open last week, where she squandered early leads.
Eala’s first round exit in Stuttgart earned her a single WTA ranking point and a $13,211 (around P790,000) in prize money. She may have improved a notch to No. 44 in the live rankings, but expect it to shift as this week’s tournaments in various cities progress.
