Eala ‘starting to build relationship’ with clay as French Open stint looms

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala will be banking on a strong showing in Strasbourg before slugging it out against the big guns with hopes of a breakthrough run in the French Open later this month.

The clay surface has been Eala’s Achilles heel, but she has definitely gained ground this year with a bevy of productive campaigns that should serve handy in the tourney at Roland Garros, the season’s second Grand Slam, set from May 24 from June 7, in Paris.

“I’m starting to build that relationship (with clay), especially at this level,” said Eala on the Roland Garros website while making the most out of her short break in Rome after the Italian Open.

The 20-year-old Filipina Eala made her first-ever third-round finish in the Italian Open, where she stood her own against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-3.

Prior to that, she exited early in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open in Austria (second round), the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany (first round) and the Mutua Madrid Open (second round).

In previous years since becoming a pro, Eala had mostly first-round campaigns in either the qualifying or main draws, including a Round-of-128 exit in her Roland Garros main draw debut last year against Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, 0-6, 6-2, 3-6.

But she’ll have one more warm-up tournament in the WTA500 Strasbourg Open in the neighboring city of Paris, hoping to harvest more experience for the queen of clay.

“This is my first season where I’ve really done these high-level tournaments,” added Eala, a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca by the Spanish legend dubbed as the King of Clay.

“I’m finding my footing and I know that I can do well. Hopefully, the things we’ve been working on will reflect more on my game.”

Eala will play in the qualifying round of the 500-level tour slated May 17 to 23, serving as the official pre-tournament for Roland Garros, against a still undetermined opponent depending on the draw this weekend.

She will march into France with an expected improved ranking at No. 38 from No. 42 with 1340 points according to the WTA live rankings after gaining 55 points from a third-round campaign in the Italian Open.

The official update will be released after the ongoing Italian Open, where Eala also played in the doubles with American partner Hailey Baptiste but to no avail against Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova (World No. 1) and USA’s Taylor Townsend (World No. 2), 6-2, 6-1, in Round 1.

Aside from the singles, Eala will also play in the doubles of the Roland Garros with 19-year old Canadian star Victoria Mboko, the World No. 9.

It will be the first team-up for the two rising stars after two meetings in their young careers.

Eala, WTA No. 42, drubbed Mboko in the semifinals of the 2022 US Open girls' singles, 6-1, 7-6, en route to becoming the first Filipino Grand Slam junior champion. Mboko avenged that in the pros with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win in the Hong Kong Open Round of 16 last year.