Alex Eala is currently competing at the Birmingham Open.
The Filipina star, who is set to partner Venus Williams in doubles at the Bad Homburg Open, won her first-round match at the Birmingham Open on Tuesday
Eala, top seed at the WTA 125k event, defeated Australian player Priscilla Hon 6-0, 6-2 in her opening contest.
The 20-year-old will hope to secure her second career WTA title in Birmingham, before travelling east to the Queen’s Club Championships.
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Eala had been expected to play in the qualifying event at the Queen’s Club Championships. However, she is now set to enter the main draw directly following the withdrawal of two high-profile American players.
Alex Eala will play in the Queen’s Club Championships main draw
On Wednesday, Jessica Pegula and Hailey Baptiste’s withdrawals from the Queen’s Club Championships were confirmed.
Baptiste recently suffered a ‘heartbreaking’ knee injury at the French Open, and is expected to spend significant time away from the competitive arena.
Pegula’s name is also now absent from the Queen’s Club entry list, affording Alexandra Eala and Karolina Pliskova the opportunity to enter the main draw directly.
Eala will have to engineer a quick turnaround should she reach the final in Birmingham.
The WTA 125k event is set to conclude on June 7, just a day before the start of the Queen’s Club event.
Eala, who is currently the lowest-ranked player on the Queen’s Club entry list, will find out her route to the title in London when the draw is made later this week.
Following the conclusion of the Queen’s Club Championships, Eala will travel to Germany for the Bad Homburg Open – a tournament that will run from June 21 to 27.
| Player | Ranking at time of entry |
| Elena Rybakina | 2 |
| Amanda Anisimova | 6 |
| Victoria Mboko | 9 |
| Belinda Bencic | 12 |
| Marta Kostyuk | 15 |
| Iva Jovic | 17 |
| Diana Shnaider | 20 |
| Liudmilla Samsonova | 21 |
| Leylah Fernandez | 23 |
| Anna Kalinskaya | 24 |
| Marie Bouzkova | 26 |
| Sorana Cirstea | 27 |
| Jaqueline Cristian | 28 |
| Ann Li | 29 |
| Emma Raducanu | 30 |
| Qinwen Zheng | 32 |
| Karolina Pliskova | 40 |
| Alexandra Eala | 42 |
Alex Eala’s next opponent in Birmingham
After defeating Hon, Eala is set to play Alina Charaeva in the Birmingham Open second round.
Charaeva, 24, is ranked 130th on the WTA Tour and has one Challenger title to her name.
The Russian also has 14 ITF titles to her name – across singles and doubles – and is a two-time junior Grand Slam finalist.
Charaeva defeated Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday, and will now look to cause an upset against top seed Alex Eala.
Eala and Charaeva have played each other twice before on the professional circuit.
The pair first met at an ITF event in 2020. Charaeva emerged victorious from the event in Melilla, winning 6-3, 6-3.
Earlier this year, the pair played each other for a second time.
At the Philippine Women’s Open, Eala defeated the Russian 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 32.
