Barely rested Eala to play again

By Al S. Mendoza

ALEX Eala is set to play again after barely three days of rest. 

Almost, there’s not enough break for Alex and the hardy bunch of tennis players in the world.

The schedule in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) is so tightly packed from spring to summer since tennis action is virtually at a standstill during autumn and winter for obvious reasons. 

July is fast approaching, signalling the onslaught of summer in the US and Europe, remember?

Summer is dominated by tennis, baseball and, yes, football (that’s why we have the ongoing FIFA World Cup of football simultaneously being held in the US, Mexico and Canada featuring 26 countries). 

As we all know, the FIFA World Cup, held once in four years, is perennially the world’s No. 1 spectator draw—football being arguably mankind’s most favorite sport. 

And so, since she had crashed into the whirlpool of world competitions in March last year, Eala has now almost become a fixture in global tennis events, playing here and there, happily on the strength of special invites and precious wild card opportunities reserved only to players that matter, who have made a name through sensational wins over established and world-class opponents.

Such is the kind of magnet Eala has generated, predicated by her victories over three former Grand Slam champions Ostapenko, Keys and Swiatek in her professional debut in the Miami Open in March 2025.

And, only very recently, Eala’s soaring stock surged sky-high when she won the Birmingham Open last June 7 in Great Britain, rallying from a set down to defeat Czech Nikola Bartunkova 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 for her second WTA 125 singles crown after another come-from-behind victory over Hungary’s Panna Udvardy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the 2025 Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

Thus, barring unforeseen events, Eala gets to compete anew on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 PHL time, in the Homburg Open—another elite WTA 500 event in Germany—against Elise Mertens of Belgium. 

This, after reaching a milestone semifinal stint in the just-ended Berlin Open where Eala beat world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals before dismissing No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Eala lost to Czech No. 6 Linda Noskova in Berlin’s Round of 4, but that’s water under the bridge now.

Go, go, go Alex!