WITH only a short breather, Alexandra “Alex” Eala takes her act to the Hong Kong Open against another familiar opponent in Alycia Parks of the US in Round 1 at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.
It will be the third duel for them this year with Ms. Eala, world No. 19, standing as the heavy favorite this time around as the No. 2 seed just behind top seed WTA No. 16 Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the 250-level tour.
Court designation and game time on Monday (Manila time) are still to be determined.
Ms. Parks is world No. 65 but if their previous two duels are the gauge, a toss-up is projected for a seat in the second round against either No. 405 Xinran Sun of China or No. 87 Tereza Valentova of Czechia.
The 21-year-old Filipina bowed to Ms. Parks in Round 1 of the Australian Open, 6-0, 3-6, 2-6, before exacting revenge in the Round of 64 of the National Bank Open in Canada, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Ms. Eala will be marching into Hong Kong fresh from a quarterfinal finish in the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific in Tokyo, where she was the No. 8 seed.
That ended Ms. Eala’s string of early exits albeit could have gone all the way to the Final Four if not for multiple stumbles in a tough 6-2, 6-7, 4-6 meltdown against the world No. 13 and Tokyo No. 3 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia.
It was the second straight loss for Ms. Eala against Ms. Shnaider in as many weeks after a 5-7, 4-6 loss in the WTA 500 Ningbo Open in China. — John Bryan Ulanday