1 day ago
3
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
John Bryan Ulanday - The Philippine Star
May 7, 2025 | 12:00am
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines serves against Madison Keys of the United States during their match on day 6 at Hard Rock Stadium on March 23, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Rich Storry / Getty Images / AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala faces a tall order against world No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in Round 1 of the star-studded Italian Open today in Rome.
Action kicks off at 4 p.m. (Manila time) with the 19-year-old Filipina pride looking for a good springboard to her French Open stint on May 25 to June 8 in Paris.
The 128-player Italian Open serves as Eala’s warm-up tourney for the much-awaited major, where she will be the first Filipina player to ever play in the main draw as a Top-100 player.
In the Italian Open, Eala is in a bracket that lines up a possible duel with Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez and a match with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Eala has just reached a new career-best ranking of No. 70 on Monday, ensuring a direct invite to all W1000 and Grand Slam tournaments like the Roland Garros and the Italian Open.
But first things first for Eala, who’s eyeing to atone for her early exit in the Madrid Open last month.
On the heels of a historic Miami Open run, Eala beat Bulgaria’s Victoriya Tomova, 6-3, 6-2, in Round 1 but ran out of steam against a familiar opponent in Poland’s Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.
