Dubai main draw Alex Eala will no longer go through the qualifying round, gaining spot in the main draw of the WTA1000 Dubai Duty Free International Tennis Championships set next week.
Eala’s ticket has been upgraded as announced by organizers yesterday after she barged into the Top 40 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.
And that means a chance to slug it out with the sport’s titans led by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 3 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has just ruled the Australian Open last month.
The three hotshots lead a stacked main draw featuring 18 of the world’s top 20 players including No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, No. 5 Coco Gauff and No. 6 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 7 and reigning champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia, No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
The Dubai tourney will be Eala’s second event in the United Arab Emirates after a solid run in the WTA500 Abu Dhabi Open, where she reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals.
And it’s the second WTA1000 for the 20-year-old Filipina this season after the Qatar Open where she got the boot early with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 defeat at the hands of Czechia’s Tereza Valentova, WTA No. 48.
And that should serve as enough fuel to drive Eala’s bid in Dubai, especially with an expected strong crowd support once again from the overseas Filipinos like what she had in Abu Dhabi and Doha.
