Eala stumbles in first qualifying round in Canberra tourney

Alex Eala stumbled in her first assignment for the season after yielding in the first qualifying round of the Workday Canberra International in Australia on Sunday, Dec. 31.

The 18-year-old Eala succumbed to Switzerland’s Celine Naef, 6-4, 7-5, in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 tournament which serves as the Filipina tennis sensation’s pre-Grand Slam event.

A victory for Eala could have set her up a second-round qualifying match against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who crushed France’s Alice Robbe, 6-2, 6-3.

With the early loss, Eala has already set her sights on her qualifying stint at the 2024 Australian Open set to start on Jan. 8.

Ranked No. 190 in the WTA, Eala will join fellow qualifiers 2021 US Open Champion Emma Raducanu, former World No. 5 and 2012 Roland Garros finalist Sara Errani, Chinese Taipei veteran Hsieh Su-wei, who like Raducanu has entered using a special ranking, and former Top 15 players Alize Cornet and Kaia Kanepi.

This would be the second time that Eala will be competing in the Australian Open. Last year, she also managed to earn a qualifying seat but lost her first qualifying round to Misaki Doi of Japan in three sets. — Kristel Satumbaga-Villar