Eala returns to action in Washington DC

By Al. S. Mendoza

ALEX Eala plunges into action anew after a rest of nearly a month on home soil.  Surely, she has splurged on her favorite Filipino food and is now fully recharged for crucial battles the rest of the season.

 There is really no total rest for the likes of Eala.

 Big time pros like Eala do not actually stop playing even when they are supposed to be on a furlough. 

 Among active players, there is no rest in the strictest sense of the word.  Almost every morning, they hit balls for muscle memory’s sakes, with foot work and body coordination set in motion at all times.  

 Such is the work ethics of athletes determined to hit the big time, to stay glued at the pedestal.

 Eala is no exception now.

 She was scheduled to face China’s star Zheng Qinwen on July 28, Tuesday PHL time, in Round One of the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington, DC, USA, according to world-class sportscaster Dyan Castillejo.

 The event is a high Women Tennis Association (WTA) 500 category, putting Eala in her first tournament since barging into Wimbledon’s Round of 16 in June to become the first Filipino to do so in a Grand Slam in the modern era.

Eala is up against a formidable foe in Zheng, who won the Olympic gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

 Before that, Zheng won the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games gold, beating Eala in the event’s semifinals.

But after a losing finals stint in the Australian Open, Zheng crashed out in the first round this year of both the French Open in May and Wimbledon—perhaps because she’s had elbow surgery earlier.  She has nose-dived to 123 from a high of No. 5 in the world.

 Still, Zheng, 23, could prove formidable as she is a five-time WTA champion pitted against the 21-year-old, two-time WTA champion Eala (2025 Guadalajara Open in Mexico and 2026 Birmingham Open in England).

 After Washington DC, Eala is set to play in the WTA 1000 Toronto Open in Canada Aug. 2-13, and in the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open in Ohio Aug. 13-23.

 The hard court swing in the three tournaments is a prelude to the hard court-surfaced US Open, the year’s fourth and final major won last year by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus after beating American Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6.

 Eala is now seeded No. 29, but she could move higher with good results in the US and Canada events prior to the richest women’s tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York City, set Aug. 30-Sept. 13.

“LEXGO” Eala!