MANILA – Alexandra “Alex” Eala of the Philippines is set to make her debut on the red clay of the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain next week as a qualifying draw wild card in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 tournament.

The 16-year-old Filipino tennis sensation, who reached a career-high ranking of WTA World No. 411 this week, is the youngest among the six qualifying wild card recipients who will vie for a main draw slot in the Spanish tilt that will run from April 26 to May 8.

The other qualifying wildcards are Erika Andreeva of Russia, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, Wang Xiyu of China, Hailey Baptiste of the United States, and Fiona Ferro of France.

“Eala became the first Filipina to win a WTA main-draw match last year in Cluj-Napoca and is fresh off her first ITF (International Tennis Federation) W25 title two weeks ago in Chiang Rai,” the WTA said in its Madrid Open news article.

The 2022 W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand is Eala’s second professional title following her maiden championship victory in the 2021 W15 Manacor in Spain.

Although her two pro titles were won on hard courts, Eala has clinched several clay titles as a junior.

The current ITF Juniors World No. 11, who reached a career high of No. 2, has three singles and four doubles clay titles, including the Roland Garros 2021 girls’ doubles crown.

The Rafa Nadal Academy player also scored singles-doubles title sweeps at the 2018 I Trofeo David Ferrer in Spain and 2021 JA Milan in Italy.

Eala, the 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles champion, posted her best finish in the French Open girls’ singles as a semifinalist in 2020.

Just last month, Eala made her main draw debut at the Miami Open as a wildcard, losing to American Madison Brengle in the first round.

In 2021, Eala was a qualifying wildcard in Miami, where she went out in the opening round.

‘First-class’ players in Madrid

As the Madrid Open is a joint Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event, the tournament announced the participation of the world’s best players and rising stars.

As of April 20, ATP World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland are the entry list headliners.

Also registered for Madrid are Spanish sensations led by 21-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal, two-time grand slam titlist Garbiñe Muguruza, 2021 Indian Wells winner Paula Badosa, and 2022 Miami Open champ Carlos Alcaraz.

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, the 2021 US Open finalist, are also entered in the Madrid player list.

Meanwhile, the Madrid Open made known that former World No. 1 and four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan is among the five main draw wildcards.

Joining Osaka are 2016 Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, Zheng Qinwen of China, and Linda Fruhvirtova of Czech Republic.

As for the men’s main draw wildcards, they are former World No. 1 and three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray of Great Britain, Carlos Gimeno of Spain, Lucas Pouille of France, and Jack Draper of Great Britain.

The qualifying wildcards are Juncheng Shang of China and Spaniards Alejandro Moro, Daniel Rincon, and Daniel Merida Aguilar.

• Tennis: Alex Eala conquers W25 Thailand to bag 2nd pro title
• Tennis: Alex Eala awarded wild card to Miami Open main draw

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