Eala’s golden quest is on

MANILA, Philippines — The road to Asian Games glory begins today for tennis star Alex Eala.

And standing as the first obstacle is an upset-seeking opponent from the Philippines’ regional rival Thailand –Patcharin Cheapchandej.

As top seed in Aichi-Nagoya, world No. 18 Eala had the luxury of an opening-round bye and an extra day of practice yesterday while the rest of the unseeded bets – Cheapchandej, included – attended to business in the first salvo of women’s singles action.

Cheapchandej dispatched Pakistan’s Mahin Aftab Qureshi, 6-1, 6-1, to earn a crack at the fancied Pinay lefty, who’s expected to draw a big crowd of supporters at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya.

Eala goes to work in the third featured match at Centre Court firing off after the  9 a.m. (Manila time) men’s singles Round of 32 duel between home bet Matsuoka Hayato and Hong Kong’s Kairan Thompson and the succeeding women’s doubles Round of 32 gig between Japan’s Momoko Kobori and Ayano Shimizu Ayano and Nepal’s Swastika Bista and Shivali Gurung.

Tenny Madis, the other Filipina entered in singles play, failed to join Eala to second round as she fell to seventh seed Himeno Sakatsume of Japan, 6-1, 6-0, right out of the gate.

And so the nation’s only hope in the singles now falls on its strongest weapon. 

With her glowing credentials, Eala holds the clear advantage against the 31-year-old Thai.

She sits 492 places higher in the WTA rankings than Cheapchandej, whose highest career standing was at 356th back in June.

Eala is playing against the big guns at the world’s biggest stage – beating a slew of them over the last two years - while Cheapchandej is competing in the Women’s World Tennis Tour, the entry-level and mid-level tour for women’s professional tennis.

The well-followed Pinay, who scored her breakthrough WTA Tour title in Washington last month, also enjoys the head-to-head edge against Cheapchandej, a 13-time singles winner in the ITF circuit.

In the only time they faced off at the 2022 ITFW25 Chiang Rai, Eala blazed away with a 6-3, 6-4 Round of 16 win on her way to the crown on Thai soil.

Still, the Philippine stalwart isn’t about to let her guard down.

Just hours after arriving from Singapore, Eala buckled down to work in an intense practice session with teammates Madis and Stefi Aludo.

Aside from the singles, Eala will also strut her stuff in the women’s doubles, partnering with Shaira Hope Rivera.

They will battle Lai Ching Laam and Kallista Liu of Hong Kong in the first round. Winner gets to face the No. 3 seed pair of Xinyu Jiang and Zhaoxuan Yang of China.