Alexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates a point won against Jessica Pegula during their match on Day 10 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 27, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP

MANILA -- Filipina tennis star Alex Eala hopes to get past Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova in the first round of the 2025 Madrid Open, where she is competing as a wildcard.

If Eala ousts Tomova, who is ranked 64th by the WTA, she will set-up a second round showdown with defending Madrid Open champion Iga Swiatek. 

The world No. 2 had drawn a bye in the first round of the WTA1000 tournament. 

Eala, now ranked 72nd in the world, had memorably beaten Swiatek when they played in the quarterfinal of the Miami Open, the highlight of a historic campaign that propelled the Filipina teenager into the Top 100 of the WTA.

READ: Alex Eala stuns Swiatek, advances to Miami Open semis

Also in the same bracket are No. 5 seed Madison Keys -- whom Eala ousted in the Miami Open third round -- No. 11 Emma Navarro, and No. 13 Diana Shnaider. Former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko, who fell to Eala in the second round in Miami, is also in the bracket.

But Eala must first hurdle the 30-year-old Tomova, who fell to Aryna Sabalenka in the round-of-64 in Miami. The Bulgarian reached a career-best ranking of 64 in July 2024 and has won five of her nine singles matches this year.

The 19-year-old Eala is coming off a loss to Hungary's Panna Udvardy in the round-of-16 of the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal. -- from a report by Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

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