Now world No. 70, Alex Eala braces for Italian Open debut, possible Swiatek rematch

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The world tour continues for Alex Eala as the new WTA world No. 70 tennis star takes on the clay courts of the Italian Open, where world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka await anew for fierce new challenges

MANILA, Philippines – A chance to potentially face Iga Swiatek a third time, to go up against the top players in the world, and to play for the first time at the famed Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. A new world awaits for Alex Eala.

The 19-year-old tennis sensation will be among the players booked for automatic spots in the main draw of the last WTA 1000 event before the French Open when she makes her maiden appearance at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, or the Italian Open, set for Tuesday, May 6.

Now world No. 70 after the latest report on Monday, May 5, Eala earned a berth in the main draw by virtue of her world ranking, unlike in the last two WTA 1000 events, the Miami Open and the Madrid Open, when she was given wildcard spots that allowed her passage to the main draw.

A big challenge immediately awaits Eala in the first round in the form of world No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, a former ATX (Austin, Texas) Open singles champion who reached as high as world No. 16 on June 2024.

Sixty-eight of the top 70 players in the world are slated to join the two-week event at the outdoor clay courts in Rome. Though Eala was 72nd in the world two weeks ago, two players withdrew for various reasons, thus giving her the spot.

To focus on her preparations for the Italian Open which offers €877,390 and 1000 ranking points to the eventual winner and champion, Eala’s team decided to have her skip the WTA 125 Catalonia Open in Spain last week where she was initially penciled to join as the tournament sixth seed. 

The Italian Open is one of the ten WTA 1000 events in the pro tour calendar. It sits just below the four Grand Slam tournaments and the WTA Finals in terms of prestige, prize money, and ranking points offered. 

World No. 2 Swiatek of Poland will be looking to defend her title in Rome after she also won the Italian Open in 2021 and 2022. But the odds-on favorite going in will be world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus who has been consistently dominant thus far in 2025.

Sabalenka is fresh off winning the Madrid Open the previous week where she defeated in the finals in straight sets world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States.

In the three tournaments that Sabalenka joined prior to the Madrid Open, she finished runner-up in the WTA 1000 Indian Wells in the US, emerged champion of the Miami Open, and finished runner-up in the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

A dark horse in this week’s event will be hometown favorite and world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini. The 29-year-old Italian, who made the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024, will be aiming for a better showing this year after suffering a surprise second round exit in the Italian Open last year. 

The last tournament that Eala saw action in was the WTA Madrid Open. After opening with a breezy 6-3, 6-2 victory over world No. 64 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria in the Round of 128, Eala ran into former world No. 1 and 5-time grand slam champion Swiatek in the second round where she fell in three pulsating sets, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.

Swiatek made it all the way to the semifinals, missing out of the finals after losing to Gauff. – Rappler.com