ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA will now play within the predominant draw of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free International Tennis Championships next week.
Ms. Eala’s ticket has been upgraded from a qualifying draw to the predominant tournament as announced by organizers on Thursday after she barged into the Top 40 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings.
And which means a probability to slug it out against the game’s titans led by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 3 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who just ruled the Australian Open last month.
The troika lead a stacked predominant draw featuring 18 of the world’s Top 20 players including No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, No. 5 Coco Gauff and No. 6 Jessica Pegula of the USA, No. 7 and reigning champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia, No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
The Dubai tourney can be Ms. Eala’s second event within the United Arab Emirates after a solid run within the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open, where she reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals, last week.
It’s also the second WTA 1000 for the 20-year-old Filipina, WTA No. 40, this season after her early exit within the Qatar Open with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 defeat by the hands of Czechia’s Tereza Valentova, WTA No. 48.
And that ought to function enough fuel to drive Ms. Eala’s bid in Dubai, especially with an expected strong crowd support once more from the overseas Filipinos like what she had in Abu Dhabi and Doha.
“From Doha to Dubai,” said Ms. Eala upon landing within the wealthy Middle Eastern city on Thursday, having multiple days to organize before the predominant draw on Monday.
The qualifiers get occurring Friday with the official draw for the predominant event expected to be announced right after.
Overall, the celebrated Dubai tourney can be Ms. Eala’s seventh straight event after the ASB Classic in Auckland, Australian Open predominant draw and Kooyong Classic in Melbourne in addition to the Philippine Women’s Open, her first-ever pro home tournament.
Now at No. 40 with 1244 points, Ms. Eala can be out to net a deep campaign to enter the Top 30-35 next before flying to the USA for the following stop of the WTA Tour.
Ms. Eala is slated to play within the Indian Wells Open (BNP Paribas Open) in California on March 4 to fifteen before a grand return within the Miami Open on March 17 to 29.
The Miami Open served as Ms. Eala’s gateway to the Top 100 then afterward Top 50 after a magical run from the qualifiers to the ultimate 4 marked by wins against former Grand Slam champions and Top 25 players like Ms. Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys.
She’s hoping to duplicate the feat in Dubai, despite a stronger solid led by Ms. Sabalenka and company. — John Bryan Ulanday