By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Alex Eala is set to begin her North American hard-court campaign later this month after taking a short break following the most successful Grand Slam run of her career.

The 21-year-old Filipina, who recently reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon and captured the WTA 125 Birmingham Classic title, is expected to return to competition at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, DC, scheduled from July 27 to August 2.

The WTA 500 event is expected to feature a strong field led by defending champion Leylah Fernandez, World’s No. 8 Elina Svitolina, No. 15 Jasmine Paolini and No. 22 Madison Keys.

Following the Washington tournament, Eala is projected to continue her preparations for the year’s final Grand Slam with appearances in two WTA 1000 events during the North American swing.

She is expected to compete in the National Bank Open in Toronto from August 2 to 13 before heading to the Cincinnati Open from August 13 to 23.

Eala made her National Bank Open debut last year in Montreal, where she bowed out in the opening round.

The Cincinnati tournament will serve as her final tune-up before the US Open, which runs from August 23 to September 13 in New York.

In addition to the main draw, Eala has also been named to participate in the US Open Fan Week Exhibition on August 27 alongside fellow rising stars Iva Jovic, Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien.

Eala heads into the hard-court season with growing momentum after a breakthrough grass-court campaign that included a title in Birmingham and a historic Wimbledon run highlighted by her upset victory over defending champion and World’s No. 3 Iga Świątek.

Her performance in London is also expected to lift her to a career-high World’s No. 28 when the updated WTA rankings are officially released following the conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships./ASC, WDJ