‘AO ready’ Alex Eala braces for lightning-quick Alycia Parks

WITH an entire country behind and millions of other supporters around the globe, Alexandra “Alex” Eala threads an uncharted territory of the world tennis map as she plunges into her main draw debut in the Australian Open (AO).

Already boasting a bevy of firsts for Philippine tennis, Ms. Eala blazes another trail against Alycia Parks of the United States at 9:10 a.m. on Monday (Manila time) for the highly-anticipated first round of the season’s first major — with the biggest prize pool ever at $74.9 million — at Court 6 of the Melbourne Park in Victoria.

“AO ready,” declared the 20-year-old sensation after the opening ceremony on Sunday highlighted by the flag parade of participating nations, including the Philippines for the first time ever in the women’s main draw.

Winner of the AO girls doubles Slam in 2020 with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho in 2020, Ms. Eala ranks higher in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) as of the moment at No. 49, her new career-best after reaching No. 50 last year, compared to the 25-year-old Ms. Parks at No. 100. Ms. Parks had a career-high at No. 40 in 2023.

Both rising stars have lone WTA titles, the 2025 Guadalajara Open for Ms. Eala and the 2023 Lyon Open for Ms. Parks. Ms. Parks will be in her seventh Slam main draw, including second in the AO, while Ms. Eala will be only in her fourth and first in the Land Down Under.

But there’s more to it than just numbers.

Known for her lethal counter-attack game, Ms. Eala’s mettle will be tested against a no ordinary initiator in Ms. Parks, who shares the fastest serve in history for a female player at 129 miles per hour, a record she netted in 2021 US Open to tie Venus Williams (2007).

And that should serve as enough obstacle for the gigantic mountain Ms. Eala has to set foot and conquer before even thinking of even bigger hurdles down the road of a star-studded 128-player cast.

The AO, where she got the boot as early as the qualifiers as a wildcard in the past three years, remains as the only unchecked Slam off Ms. Eala’s list after also vying in the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon in banner 2025 campaign.

With Brazilian partner Ingrid Martins (WTA doubles No. 79), Ms. Eala will also strut her stuff in the women’s doubles main draw against the tandem of Japan’s Shuko Aoyama (WTA doubles No. 52) and Poland’s Magda Linette (WTA singles No. 50 and doubles No. 140) later this week.

The pressure is on, the challenge is up and Ms. Eala is as ready as ever for go time to not only score her second main draw win ever, after becoming the first Filipina player ever to do it in the 2024 US Open, but to go deeper in AO as well.

“Coming in as a main draw player gives a different vibe, especially with the struggles I had in the past coming here. So, I’m super excited coming here in full force,” added Ms. Eala during the pre-tournament presser featuring top-ranked and rising stars.

Ms. Eala sharpened her saws for this moment, reaching the final four of the Auckland tourney, her third WTA semis appearance, and captured the Evonne Goolagong Cawley Trophy as Kooyong Classic exhibition champion following a 6-3, 6-4 mastery of Paris Olympics silver medalist and 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Win or lose, Ms. Eala is already assured of history and a purse of $100,000 (roughly P5.9 million) for first-round participants but she wants more than just a piece of cake and that’s a shot against the world’s behemoths.

Waiting in the second round is either WTA No. 19 Karolina Muchova of Czechia or WTA No. 35 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania. The climb gets steeper from there with world No. 15 Emma Navarro and No. 3 Coco Gauff projected to wait in the next two rounds.

Then it would be either No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia or No. 12 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine by the quarterfinals and either No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in the final four.

One among No. 2 Iga Swiatek, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and a familiar foe in No. 6 Jessica Pegula of the US, her tormentor in the Miami Open that ignited her WTA rise and Slam qualification, is expected to wait from other bracket for a grand finale.

Whether Ms. Eala is already ripe for any of those titans remains to be seen and she will have a say on that starting with pivotal duel against the lightning-quick Ms. Parks. — John Bryan Ulanday