Alex Eala among seven top-50 players in impressive WTA 125 tournament field in Spain
The WTA 125 tournament in La Bisbal, Spain, is set to feature a high-quality line-up as the likes of Alex Eala, Leylah Fernandez and Barbora Krejcikova have all signed up for the event.
Officially named the Torneig Internacional de Tennis Femení Solgironès Open Catalunya Ciutat de La Bisbal, the clay-court event will be staged from 27 April until 3 May in Girona, Catalonia.
2021 US Open runner-up Fernandez (No 24) and Filipina star Eala (No 45) are among seven players currently in the top 50 of the WTA Rankings who feature on the entry list with Wang Xinyu (No 34), Ann Li (No 37), Katerina Siniakova (No 42), Peyton Stearns (No 46), Jessica Bouzas Maneiro also entering.
Wang is a two-time champion in La Bisbal as she lifted the trophy in 2019 and 2022 when it was still classified as an ITF event.
Former world No 3 and two-time Grand Slam winner Krejcikova is currently at No 52 in the rankings while other top-100 players include Mccartney Kessler (No 53), Beatriz Haddad Maia (No 70), Ajla Tomljanovic (No 75) and Eva Lys (No 76).
Organisers, though, will be wary that many of the star names could pull out of the event at the last minute as they are all on the entry list for the Madrid Open with the WTA 1000 tournament running from 21 April until 3 May.
WTA News
Alex Eala suffering from a problem Emma Raducanu has failed to resolve
Linz Open: Prize money and ranking points available for Ekaterina Alexandrova, Alex Eala
Players who reach the latter stages of the Madrid tournament will be unable to compete, while those who lose early in the Spanish capital usually play in the WTA 125 events in order to get extra preparation on clay ahead of the French Open.
The top stars, of course, will also feature in the Italian Open the following week with the final WTA 1000 event on clay running from 5-17 May.
The WTA will feature two events – the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg and the WTA 250 Morocco Open – after the Italian Open from 18-23 May, before Roland Garros gets underway on 25 May in Paris.
Someone like Eala has at least four tournaments before Roland Garros as she will feature at next week’s Linz Open followed by the Madrid Open, La Bisbal and Italian Open while she could also add another WTA Tour/WTA 120 event to her calendar.
Fernandez, meanwhile, has signed up for the Stuttgart Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open while the entry lists for Strasbourg and Morocco are still to be confirmed.
