Filipina idol Alex Eala got a break in her final tune-up for the French Open after she was moved up to the main draw of the Strasbourg Open in France.
This came after Amarican Hailey Baptiste pulled out of the WTA 500 event.
With this development, the 20-year-old Eala will be pitted against a qualifier in the 28-player field that got underway Sunday, May 17, in an event headlined by top seed Victoria Mboko and second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The event will be Eala’s fifth on the clay-court, and hopefully she will go deep this time after an encouraging performance in the Italian Open where she reached the third round.
She was even pretty contended with her showing, adding that she is slowly adapting to playing at a tour level on clay.
“I’m finding my footing and I know that I can do well. I’m a much better player physically and mentally than I was last year and we’ve really been working hard, my team and I. And hopefully the things we’ve been working on will reflect more on my game,” said Eala.
“I competed on clay many times growing up. But playing as a professional obviously is a different game. This is my first season where I’ve really done these high-level tournaments,” added Eala, who practically grew up in Mallorca, Spain while training at the Rafa Nadal Academy.
“I competed on clay many times growing up. But playing as a professional obviously is a different game. This is my first season where I’ve really done these high-level tournaments,” said Eala.
Other notable players entered in the event are third seed Iva Jovic, fourth seed Clara Tauson, and fifth seed Madison Keys.
Like Mboko and Alexandrova, Jovic and Tauson received opening day byes.
