Alex Eala struggled to capture her best form during an underwhelming first performance at the Queen’s Club Championships.
The Filipina was unable to carry her Birmingham Open form into the London event, losing 6-2, 6-2 to American youngster Iva Jovic.
Eala played a poor match in truth, hitting a variety of unforced errors as she faltered against Jovic’s almost impenetrable baseline game.
What is going wrong for Alex Eala against the top players?
She only won four games against Iva Jovic at Queen's…
It was far from the best preparation ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.
However, Eala now has another opportunity to prepare appropriately, after receiving a timely wildcard.
Alex Eala receives a wildcard for the Berlin Open
On Wednesday afternoon, Alex Eala’s participation in the Berlin Open was confirmed.
Wildcard news!” a post on the Berlin Open’s X page read. “Alex Eala is heading to Berlin.
“We can’t wait to welcome her!”
Eala will join an extremely strong field at the Berlin Open, which will run from June 15 to 21.
The tournament is set to feature well-established Grand Slam champions like Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff.
Victoria Mboko and Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva are also scheduled to compete in the event.
Eala is the second player to be granted a wildcard for the event, following Eva Lys.
Berlin Open entry list
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Elena Rybakina
- Coco Gauff
- Jessica Pegula
- Amanda Anisimova
- Elina Svitolina
- Victoria Mboko
- Karolina Muchova
- Belinda Bencic
- Linda Noskova
- Jasmine Paolini
- Ekaterina Alexandrova
- Sorana Cirstea
- Madison Keys
- Liudmila Samsonova
- Clara Tauson
- Eva Lys [wildcard]
- Alexandra Eala [wildcard]
Eala will find out her route to the Berlin Open title later this week when the draw is released.
How will Alex Eala perform for the rest of the grass-court swing?
Grass is undoubtedly Alex Eala’s best surface.
The 20-year-old proved this last week when she defeated Nikola Bartunkova to win her second WTA Challenger title in Birmingham.
Eala also enjoyed positive grass-court results last year, reaching the Eastbourne Open final and qualifying for the Nottingham Open quarter-finals.
As mentioned already, Eala performed poorly against Iva Jovic on Wednesday.
Is Alex Eala ‘overhyped and overrated’?
Some fans think so…
However, this performance is likely an outlier, rather than the start of a trend of poor performances on grass courts.
One would not be surprised if Eala bounces back quickly and causes more than one shock when she plays at the Berlin Open next week.
