Alex Eala braces for three clay tourneys ahead of French Open

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA is taking an extended break with her family in observance of the Holy Week, then it’s go-time for her much-awaited campaign in the clay season starting on Monday in Austria.

Ms. Eala is slated for three big tournaments beginning with the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open on April 6 to 12 after the Lenten season for a huge swing from her productive runs in hardcourt tournaments in Asia and the United States.

The 20-year-old Filipina, who celebrated the birthday of her mother Rizza on Monday, then shifts to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany on April 13 to 19 before returning to the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on April 21 to May 3.

Ms. Eala will be playing for the first time in Linz Open and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, both 500-level tours, while she’s out for vengeance in the 1000-level Madrid after a 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 defeat to world No. 4 Iga Swiatek of Poland last year in the first round.

All of these tournaments will serve as part of Ms. Eala’s long and rigid preparations for the French Open, the crème of the crop of the clay season, on May 24 to June 7.

As a Top 100 player, Ms. Eala will have a direct entry in Roland Garros alongside the other three Grand Slams including the first major last January at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Up next for her after Paris is the Wimbledon in London and the US Open in New York.

Ms. Eala, this week, slid to No. 45 from a new career-best of No. 29 in the official Women’s Tennis Association rankings after failing to defend the 390 ranking points she gained from a magical Final Four finish last year.

The lefty ace reached as far as the Round of 16 this time around after a 6-0, 6-2 defeat to world No. 11 Karolina Muchova of Czechia, good for only 270 points as she fell to 1255 points from 1525 before the Miami Open.

Good thing for Ms. Eala, there will be no ranking points to defend for the rest of her campaign this season for a pretty chance to recollect more points and rise back in the world rankings anew.

And that will start in Austria, where a stacked field is waiting for her.

Reigning champion and world No. 13 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia headlines the players list in the main draw so far alongside other top-ranked players in Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia (No. 23), Emma Navarro of the United States (No. 25), Emma Raducanu of Great Britain (No. 28) and Sorana Cirstea of Romania (No. 29).

Seasoned players and Grand Slam mainstays Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia (No. 52), Katie Boulter of Great Britain (No. 64) and two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova of Czechia (No. 257) are also in the fray. — John Bryan Ulanday