ALEX EALA — JIMMIE48/WTA

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA could be in a collision course against another Goliath in Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, barring any major upset.

Ms. Ostapenko, world No. 4, third seed and a former French Open champion, is to play home bet and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 49 Sonay Kartal in the Round of 32 for a seat in the second round, where Ms. Eala awaits.

Ms. Eala, who recently surged to No. 74 in the WTA rankings, took care of her own end with a 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of WTA No. 61 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy the other day for a roaring start in the main draw.

The 20-year-old Filipina sensation needed two wins in the qualifiers to make it to the main tourney, including a 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 6-1 comeback win against No. 1 seed Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the finale.

She previously beat Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3, in a stellar run so far as part of her final build-up for a main draw debut at the Wimbledon set on June 30 to July 11 in London.

The Wimbledon is her second straight Grand Slam main draw campaign after the French Open, where she became the first Filipina ever to participate.

Ms. Eala made it happen by slaying three Top-10 players and former Grand Slam champions in the Miami Open to barge into the Top 100 of the WTA that served as her ticket to direct invites in all majors and WTA 1000 tournaments. — John Bryan Ulanday