Eala braces for busy April campaign

Sports

IT WILL be a busy April for Filipino tennis star Alex Eala as she looks to climb back up in the rankings following a huge 16-notch drop.

The 20-year-old Filipina tennis star will mark the start of her clay-court campaign in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, which is scheduled on April 6 to 12. She will then head to Stuttgart, Germany for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix slated April 13 to 19.

Eala will then see action in the prestigious Mutua Madrid Open, which will take place from April 21 to May 3.

Eala is coming off a Round 16 exit in the Miami Open. She came into the match enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 29.

Being in the Top 30 proved short-lived for Eala as she slumped to No. 45 in the current Women’s Tennis Associaiton rankings.

Eala suffered the huge drop after failing to defend the 390 points that she earned during her semifinal run in last year’s Miami Open.

This year’s Miami Open campaign saw Eala lose badly to Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the fourth round, 0-6, 2-6. It was Eala’s 13th straight loss to a Czech opponent.

Eala now has 1,255 points, earning just 120 points from the Miami Open stint.(CCM)