Eala gets early door at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

HOMEGROWN ace Alexandra “Alex” Eala folded to the higher-ranked Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 6-1, 6-4, for an early exit in the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Wednesday at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.

Up against a fellow country pride with a Filipina mother but was born and raised in Canada, Ms. Eala fell to an early 0-5 hole and could never find her groove since then for another foiled deep run in a rough start to her clay campaign so far.

The 20-year-old Filipina is coming off a second-round exit in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open last week to kick off her clay season. There, she scored a 6-4, 6-3 romp over top-ranked Austrian player Julia Grabher (WTA No. 89) before falling to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (WTA No. 23), 2024 Linz Open and 2017 French Open champion, in a 6-4, 7-5 meltdown after leading big in both sets.

Both the Linz and Stuttgart stops were 500-level tournaments, setting the stage for an even taller climb for Ms. Eala in the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open on April 21 to May 3.

Hopes are high for Ms. Eala to perform better in Madrid serving as a homecourt of sorts after being a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy at the nearby Mallorca.

Her three clay tournaments so far will serve as her preparation for the French Open, the queen of clay, on May 24 to June 7 in Paris.

Meanwhile, Ms. Eala slightly improved to No. 45 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings this week after sliding to No. 46 last week.

Ms. Eala fell all the way to the Top 40s from a career-best of No. 29 last month after falling short from defending her rankings points in the Miami Open with only a Last 16 finish. She finished in the Final Four last year.

Now without any points to protect, Ms. Eala though is expected to climb the ranks anew but that should start in swinging more and harder in her Achilles heel so far, the clay court. — John Bryan Ulanday