By MARK REY MONTEJO
From clay to grass, the process continues for Alex Eala.
The Filipina ace hopes to make up for a disappointing showing at clay court when she competes in the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open from June 21 to 27 in Germany where she a wild card berth.
Apart from 21-year-old Eala, hometown bet Eva Lys and former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams of USA are also confirmed to receive the special entry on German soil.
Though reigning champion American Jessica Pegula wasn’t on the player list, the field remains strong as former champion and world No. 23 Diana Shnaider (2024) is also in the cast as well No. 22 Canadian Leylah Fernandez, No. 17 USA’s Iva Jovic, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, and No. 10 Czech Karolina Muchova, to name a few.
The German tourney goes before the WTA 125 Birmingham Open (June 1 to 7) and WTA 500 The HSBC Championships (June 8 to 14), where both Eala’s name is also inserted.
Those events are part of Eala’s preparation as she intends to try her luck in this year’s Wimbledon Championships slated June 29 to July 12 in London, England.
Eala, who is ranked No. 37, is coming off a first-round exit in the French Open as she bowed to her American friend Jovic, 6-4, 6-2.
In six clay court events, it was only in Rome where Eala managed to get past the first round. She actually reached the third round but lost to No. 2 Elena Rybakina. 4-6, 3-6.
