By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense tennis star Alexandra Eala is set to begin her preparations for Wimbledon as she opens her grass-court season at the WTA 125 Birmingham Open in Great Britain this week.

Fresh from her campaign at the French Open, Eala will look to build momentum on a new surface as she joins a competitive field in Birmingham.

The 21-year-old enters the tournament as one of the highest-ranked players in the draw, carrying a world ranking of No. 42.

Eala is aiming for a stronger showing than last year, when her run in Birmingham ended in the opening round against Czech player Linda Fruhvirtova.

Among the notable names joining the tournament are Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, Germany’s Tatjana Maria, Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic, American Talia Gibson, and New Zealand’s Lulu Sun.

Defending champion Greet Minnen is not part of this year’s field.

The Birmingham event serves as an important tune-up for Eala ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which will be held from June 29 to July 12.

After Birmingham, Eala is expected to continue her grass-court schedule at the WTA 500 HSBC Championships in London from June 8 to 14 before heading to Germany for the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open from June 21 to 27.

Eala has already secured a main-draw wild card for the Bad Homburg tournament, where she is set to compete alongside a star-studded lineup that includes former World’s No. 1 Venus Williams, Germany’s Eva Lys, Russian standout Mirra Andreeva, Czech veteran Karolina Muchova, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, and former champion Diana Shnaider.

The Filipino standout is coming off a first-round singles loss to American Iva Jovic at Roland Garros.

Eala was also scheduled to compete in the doubles event with Canadian partner Victoria Mboko, but the pair withdrew before their opening-round match.

With the clay season now behind her, Eala turns her attention to the grass-court swing as she seeks to gain valuable experience and confidence heading into the year’s third Grand Slam tournament./ASC, WDJ