Philippine tennis star Alex Eala is knee deep in preparation for her debut in the main draw of Wimbledon, as she participates in the qualifying round of the Eastbourne Open.
Alex Eala will be playing one last warmup tournament before she makes her anticipated debut at the Wimbledon Championships, competing in the qualifiers of WTA 250 tournament Eastbourne Open this week.
Eala, who was included in the entry list of Wimbledon earlier this week, will be hoping to bring winning momentum into her second Grand Slam main draw at the end of the month. She first faces Zeynep Sonmez in the first round of qualifiers at Eastbourne.
The 20-year-old is playing her fourth grass tournament of the season, all in preparation for a deep run in the upcoming Grand Slam.
Eala is seeded eighth in the qualifiers and will need two wins to make it to the main draw of the WTA 250 tiff.
Her foe from Turkey has one WTA title under her belt, ruling the Merida Open in Mexico last year.
Sonmez is currently ranked 82nd in the WTA rankings — just five steps behind Eala who is at 77th.
The 23-year-old has made three appearances in the main draw of a Grand Slam, two of which came back-to-back this year. She exited in the first round of the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
Eala hopes to replicate her success in the qualifiers of the Nottingham Open last week where she entered the main draw before falling in a tough two-setter against world no. 31 Magda Linette.
Eala and Sonmez tangle at 7:10 p.m., Manila time, on Saturday.