Alex Eala adds another event to her 2026 clay-court schedule
Alex Eala is set for a busy few weeks on clay as she has signed up for another WTA 125 tournament ahead of the French Open.
The world No 45 has been confirmed for the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma, Italy, with the tournament taking place from 11-16 May at Tennis Club Parma, which is effectively during the second week of the Italian Open.
Eala will be joined on the entry list by world No 32 Wang Xinyu, No 36 Ann Li, No 83 Camila Osorio, No 68 Sofia Kenin and No 105 and defending champion Mayar Sherif, who beat Victoria Mboko in the 2025 final.
The Emilia-Romagna will be Eala’s sixth clay-court tournament of the 2026 campaign as she started her swing started her campaign on the red dirt at the Linz Open last week where she lost in the second round against Jelena Ostapenko.
Up next was the Stuttgart Open, but she was beaten in straight sets by Leylah Fernandez in the first round.
What Is To Come
The 20-year-old will next be in action at the Madrid Open from 21 April to 3 May and, having slipped out of the top 40 in the WTA Rankings, she won’t be seeded at the WTA 1000 tournament so she could face any of the big-name players in the first few rounds.
Eala has also entered the WTA 125 Catalonia Open Solgirones, but her participation depends on her performance in Madrid as she will only be able to play if she gets knocked in the first week in the Spanish capital as the La Bisbal d’Emporda event runs from 27 April to 3 May.
The Filipina is set to be seeded sixth in Catalonia with Fernandez likely to be the No 1 seed, followed by Xinyu, Li, Katerina Siniakova and Peyton Stearns.
WTA News
WTA Madrid Open: Points being dropped by Sabalenka, Gauff, Swiatek, Raducanu, Eala
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova faces 4-year ban after anti-doping visit
If she reaches the latter stages in La Bisbal, then she will not have much time to recover as she has also earned a direct entry into the main draw of the Italian Open before heading to Parma.
But as is the case with the WTA 125 Catalonia, she will only play at the Emilia-Romagna tournament if she fails to make it to the second week in Rome.
Rankings Update
Eala peaked at No 29 in the WTA Rankings in March, but she has slipped back after she was unable to defend her points from her 2025 semi-final run at the Miami Open.
But there is good news in terms of WTA Tour events points to defend in the coming weeks as she will drop only 35 points at the Madrid Open as she lost in the second round last year while she lost in the first round in Rome 12 months ago so will drop only 10 points.
