Alex Eala confirms 2022 Australian Open absence

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala already confirmed she won’t be competing in the prestigious 2022 Australian Open.

Currently the reigning Australian Open juniors’ doubles champion together with partner Priska Nugroho from Indonesia, Eala will also lose the opportunity to defend their title.

“I’m going to focus more on professional tournaments. There’s a couple professional tournaments during the same time as the Australian Open, so I won’t be attending,” the 16-year-old Filipina told Rappler in an interview.

Eala has already started participating in the various Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) professional tournaments and has also skipped numerous junior-level competitions.

The hard-hitting leftie is currently the world no. 3 player in the juniors’ division while also making her mark in the women’s ranking as the world No. 513.

“For professional tournaments, you get in by ranking, so I’m just trying to work my way up with the tournaments starting from the ones that aren’t as strong as the previous and then just try to get my ranking up slowly and then I’ll progress from there,” Eala added.

As of now, it is still unknown what professional WTA and ITF tournaments Eala will participate in next year.

It was also a delight to the Philippines after Eala confirmed her participation with the national team in the upcoming 2022 Southeast Asian Games.

“Alex is fully committed and excited for next year as the plan is for her to play anywhere from 22 to 27 tournaments, which will include the SEA Games in May,” said her father Mike Eala in an interview with the Inquirer.