Who is Alex Eala’s first Italian Open opponent? Polish star who has beaten top 10 players
Alex Eala will continue her 2026 clay-court season at the Italian Open, and she has learned who she will play in her first match at the Foro Italico.
The world No 42 is making her second appearance at the WTA 1000 in Rome, having lost in the opening round on her debut in 2025.
Eala is playing her first tournament since the Madrid Open, where she fell in the second round to Elise Mertens after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Filipina had entered the Catalonia Open, a WTA 125/Challenger event in La Bisbal d’Emporda which was played last week, but she pulled out on the opening day.
The 20-year-old holds a 2-3 record on clay this year, having lost in the first round in Stuttgart and the second round in Linz prior to Madrid.
Eala will take on world No 45 Magdalena Frech in her opening match in the Italian capital. It will be the first meeting between the pair.
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Who is Magdalena Frech?
Frech was born in Lodz, Poland on 15 December, 1997, and she started playing tennis at the age of six.
She won her only career title at the hard-court WTA 500 tournament in Guadalajara in September 2024, beating Olivia Gadecki in the final.
The 28-year-old was a runner-up to compatriot Magda Linette at the clay-court WTA 250 event in Prague in July 2024.
In March 2026, Frech lost to Cristina Bucsa in the final at the hard-court WTA 500 in Merida.
The Pole achieved her best Grand Slam result at the 2024 Australian Open, where she reached the fourth round.
Frech has recorded two wins over opponents ranked in the top 10 at the time: Emma Navarro at the 2024 Wuhan Open and Mirra Andreeva at the 2025 Berlin Open.
She reached a career-high ranking of world No 22 in November 2024.
Frech’s recent struggles
Frech arrives at the 2026 Italian Open on a five-match losing streak that began with her loss to Bucsa in the Merida final on 1 March.
Since then, Frech has suffered four successive first round defeats, losing to Storm Hunter in Indian Wells, McCartney Kessler in Miami, Anna Bondar in Charleston and Solana Sierra in Madrid.
The Pole holds a 10-11 record in 2026, including qualifying matches.
