Eala tests mettle vs World No. 2 Rybakina in Italian Open

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala will play in the biggest match of her career just yet.

The 20-year-old Filipina and World No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan will cross paths in the battle between Asia's rising stars Sunday for a seat in the Round of 16 of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Italian Open) at the Foro Italico Sports Complex in Rome.

Eala first booked her spot in the Round of 32 after 6-4, 6-3 win over Xinyu Wang of China (WTA No. 33), before the 26-year-old Rybakina followed suit with an easy 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 47 Maria Sakkari of Greece last night.

As the No. 2 seed in the 1000-level tour, Rybakina gained a first-round bye compared to Eala, who had to hurdle No. 45 Magdalena Frech of Poland in the Round of 128, 6-0, 3-6 6-4.

And so the date is set for their first-ever encounter, with Eala marching into duel as the heavy underdog against Rybakina — a two-time Grand Slam champion, including this year's Australian Open and the best server so far in Rome.

For Eala, it will mark the second time in her career to face a second-ranked player after slaying then world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland (now world No. 4), in the Miami Open quarterfinals last year, 6-2, 7-5.

The winnner of the Rybalina-Eala duel advances to the fourth round against either Germany's Laura Siegemund (WTA No. 46) or Czechia's Karolina Pliskova (WTA No. 130).

“I’m finding my footing. I hope I can do well,” Eala said.

Eala is hoping to make a deeper run in the Italian Open after reaching the third round of a clay tournament for the first time in her career.

Before Rome, Eala had struggled with early exits 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).

Given another massive upset of Rybakina, it will serve handy for Eala's preparations leading up to queen of clay — the French Open from May 24 to June 7 in Paris.

She’s also slated for the WTA500 Internationaux de Strasbourg Open from May 17-23 in France and in the main draw of WTA125 Parma Ladies Open in Rome’s neighboring city from May 12-17.

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