By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense tennis ace Alex Eala will compete in the main draw of the Internationaux de Strasbourg after moving up from the qualifying field of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 tournament in France.

Eala earned direct entry following the withdrawal of American player Hailey Baptiste, allowing the 20-year-old Filipina to avoid the qualifying rounds and immediately join the 28-player main draw.

She is scheduled to face a qualifier in the opening round of the week-long clay-court event, which serves as one of the final preparations before the French Open.

A victory in her first match could set up a second-round showdown against either eighth seed Marie Bouzkova or Czech veteran Katerina Siniakova.

Eala finds herself in a stacked section of the draw that also includes Ekaterina Alexandrova, Maya Joint and Ann Li.

The tournament field features several established names on the WTA Tour, including Madison Keys, Clara Tauson, Victoria Mboko, and Iva Jovic.

The Filipina rising star heads into Strasbourg after another solid showing on clay at the Italian Open in Rome, where she advanced to the third round before losing to World’s No. 2 Elena Rybakina.

The Strasbourg event marks another important stop in Eala’s European clay-court campaign as she continues to gain experience against top-ranked opponents ahead of Roland Garros.

Earlier this season, Eala reached the Round of 16 in both the Miami Open and Indian Wells, while also making quarterfinal appearances in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

She also opened her 2026 campaign with a semifinal finish at the ASB Classic in Auckland./ASC, WDJ