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MANILA Philippines — Alex Eala will strut her stuff in the Miami Open once again.
The 19-year-old Filipina teen sensation has been selected by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) as one of the seven wildcards in the main draw of the prestigious tourney starting on March 18 at the Hardrock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Eala, a junior doubles champion in the Australian Open and French Open as well as a junior singles titlist in the US Open, is currently the No. 140 player in the WTA and reached as high as No. 134 earlier this year.
She has been a consistent wildcard entry in the conclave since her rise in the women’s pro circuit, becoming one of the world’s top junior tennisters as the former second-ranked player before stamping her class in the women’s ranks.
Last year, Eala made it to the second round of the Miami Open after a tough loss to Emiliana Arango of Colombia, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6.
Eala, however, pulled off an emphatic 6-3, 6-1 win over world No. 97 Sara Errani of Italy, former world No. 5 player who made it to the finals of the Roland Garros in 2012, as one of her biggest wins to date.
The proud graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy is hoping for better results this time, especially with a bevy of tournaments in Slovakia, India, Singapore and Australia that served as her tough preparations.
Her top performance so far was a semifinal finish in the W125 Workday Canberra International before her first-round exit in the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Joining Eala in the wildcard entries of the 128-player field are former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) and Sloane Stephens (USA), Victoria Mboko (Canada), Sayaka Ishii (Japan), Tyra Caterina Grant (USA) and Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia).
Top-ranked players Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) and Iga Swiatek (Poland) headline the Miami Open cast.
