Eala lands in Osaka for Japan Open campaign

Alex Eala

AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala arrived in Osaka Friday to plot her mission of entering the Top 50 world rankings for the first time ever in the WTA250 Japan Open next week.

Eala this week climbed to No. 54 in the Women’s Tennis Association despite an early exit in Wuhan, China — making Japan a perfect place to etch more history for Philippine tennis.

No Filipina has ever stepped foot in the elite Top 50 rankings and Eala sports a pretty chance if she goes deep in the $250,000 tourney against a stacked field led by home bet Naomi Osaka, World No. 16.

WTA No. 17 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez, WTA No. 27, and No. 70 Cristina Bucsa of Spain, Eala’s tormentor in the US Open second round, are also in the fray.

The official draw is yet to be released by the WTA Tour pending the completion of the WTA1000 Wuhan Open, where Eala absorbed a 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 defeat against Japanese Moyuka of Japan in Round 1 of the qualifiers.

Eala spent a little break in China after that defeat to recharge for an expected tougher tourney in Japan that will serve her sixth straight tournament in a month on top of the US Open feat, where she became the first Filipina winner in any Grand Slam main draw.

She started the stretch of the loaded WTA Tour by netting her maiden WTA title in the WTA125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico then reached the quarterfinals of the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil.

After Japan, Eala will have more chances to crack the Top 50 with stints in the Guangzhou Open from October 20-26 and the Hong Kong Open from October 27 to November 2.

A homecoming is slated after that with her expected national team return for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December and the planned WTA Tour hosting to be branded as Manila or Philippine Open early next year.