Eala braces for battle vs Ostapenko

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala could be in a collision course against another Goliath in Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in WTA Eastbourne Open, barring any major upset.

Ostapenko, the world No. 4, third seed and a former French Open champion, is to play home bet and WTA No. 49 Sonay Kartal in the Round of 32 for a seat in the second round, where Eala awaits.

Eala, who recently surged to No. 74 in the WTA rankings, took care of her own end with a 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of WTA No. 61 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy the other day for a roaring start in the main draw.

The 20-year-old Filipina sensation needed two wins in the qualifiers to make it to the main tourney, including a 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 6-1 comeback win against No. 1 seed Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the finale.

She previously beat Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1, 6-3, in a stellar run so far as part of her final build-up for a main draw debut at the Wimbledon.

Wimbledon is her second straight Grand Slam main draw campaign after the French Open, where she became the first Filipina ever to participate.

Also in Eastbourne, top seed Daria Kasatkina was dumped out on Monday by Lulu Sun, while Brazilian rising star Joao Fonseca secured his first grass court win in the men’s event.

New Zealander Sun, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year as a qualifier, again raised her game on the grass to oust the defending champion 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

Two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also suffered an early exit to Australia’s Maya Joint 7-5, 6-2.

In the ATP event, Fonseca overcame Belgian Zizou Bergs 6-7 (8/10), 6-0, 6-3 and set up a second-round meeting with defending champion and top seed Taylor Fritz of the USA.