After a dominant opener, Alex Eala will take on Julia Riera of Argentina in the next round of the SP Open in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Alex Eala will look to continue her strong run as she faces Julia Riera of Argentina in the Round of 16 at the SP Open in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Thursday (PH time).
After taking down Yasmine Mansouri in the first round, Eala battles another ITF-level foe in Riera who has won seven ITF singles titles and four doubles titles.
[RELATED: Alex Eala dominates France’s Mansouri to barge into Sao Paulo Open Round of 16]
Eala, ranked world no. 61 at the moment, faced Riera twice before in 2024. Riera won the first matchup, which was the final qualifier to make the French Open main draw.
During their most recent meeting at the 2024 Cary Tennis Classic, Eala won over the 8-seeded Riera in two sets, 6-3, 6-1.
In the WTA Tour, Riera has also shown promise with one WTA Challenger doubles title — a tournament of the same level of the recently concluded Guadalajara 125 Open, where Eala won her first WTA singles title.
Riera, 23, has made appearances in the main draw of three of the four Grand Slams, except in the US Open where she has yet to push through in qualifiers.
Coincidentally, Riera played in the qualifiers of the 2025 US Open against Eala’s former doubles partner Oksana Selekhmeteva where the latter emerged victorious in three sets.
Eala and Selekhmeteva won the French Open Girls’ Doubles title in 2021 together.
Despite her relative lack of high-profile titles, Riera has shown flashes of brilliance earlier on in her career.
In 2023, Riera made her WTA Tour debut at the Morocco Open where she defeated former top-10 player Kristina Mladenovic in her first foray into the Tour.
She reached her first WTA Tour-level semifinal on her debut but fell short against Julia Grabher in three sets.
She is also a multi-medalist at the 2023 Pan American Games. She is currently ranked world no. 188 in the WTA rankings.
During the 2025 French Open, Riera was among two other Argentines that advanced to the main draw of the Grand Slam — marking the first time in 39 years that three Argentine women achieved this feat in the same edition of the tournament.
The milestone was last reached in 1986.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.