Eala kicks off her clay season in Linz Open in Austria

ANOTHER debut in a big tournament awaits Alexandra “Alex” Eala in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open in Europe to kick off her clay season after her grand return to the Miami Open next week.

The Linz Open, slated April 6 to 12 in Austria, over the weekend announced its player list with Ms. Eala making it to the main draw alongside Top 20 players Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia (No. 11), Clara Tauson of Denmark (No. 17) and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia (No. 19).

Ms. Eala is No. 32 in the world rankings, projected to rise to a new career-best of No. 28 according to live rankings, thanks to a Last 16 finish in the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open last week.

The Linz Open is a 500-level tour, marking the first clay tourney season leading up to the French Open next month.

This will be Ms. Eala’s second WTA 500 tourney after a quarterfinal finish in Abu Dhabi, where she absorbed a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Ms. Alexandrova.

For now, Ms. Eala is to make the most out of the hardcourt season with a goal of another deep campaign in Miami, a 1000-level tour.

The 20-year-old Filipina is expected to be among the Top 32 seeds in Miami for a first-round bye like what she had in the Indian Wells, where she gained 120 additional points.

Last year, Ms. Eala reached the final four in Miami as a wildcard qualifier and raked in 390 ranking points, which she needs to protect to stay in the Top 30.

Otherwise, Ms. Eala would lose the 390 points upon its expiration when Miami opens on Tuesday and is projected to significantly drop in the rankings all the way to Top 50-60 where she started the season.

With 1542 points, Ms. Eala might return to 1142 points if she could not replicate a final four finish or higher. — John Bryan Ulanday