Alex Eala begins Suzhou Open campaign against Kawa

Dubai: After falling to third seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the semi-finals of the Jingshan Open in China, Filipino tennis star Alex Eala is ready to bounce back at the Suzhou Open, also in China.

Eala will kick off her campaign against 32-year-old Polish veteran Katarzyna Kawa, currently ranked No 124 in the world.

The 20-year-old Eala enters the WTA 125 event as the fourth seed. The tournament offers a total prize pool of $115,000. She comes in with a live WTA singles ranking of No. 57 — up one spot from the previous week.

This marks the second career meeting between Eala and Kawa. Their first clash came three years ago at the ITF W60 Templeton event, where Kawa edged out a win in three sets. Since then, both players have progressed, especially Eala, who has consistently stayed within the WTA Top 100 following her breakthrough at the Miami Open earlier this year. She also recently celebrated her first WTA title at the Guadalajara Open.

Kawa, on the other hand, is coming off a second-round qualifying exit at the China Open.

Headlining the Suzhou Open field is world No 37 Iva Jovic as the top seed. Other notable names include world No 44 Tatjana Maria, third seed Suzan Lamens, and Lulu Sun — the same player who halted Eala’s run in her last tournament.