Filipina tennis star Alex Eala's North American hard-court swing continues as she heads into the Cincinnati Open with a first-round bye.
The world No. 20 will await the winner between Poland's Magda Linette and Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round of the WTA 1000 event at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
The bye gives Eala extra time to recover after a grueling two weeks that saw her win the Mubadala DC Open title and reach the Round of 16 of the National Bank Open in Toronto.
This long stretch included wins over Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Alycia Parks, among others.
The Cincinnati Open is no ordinary stop as it is the oldest US tennis tournament still played in its original city, and one of the most prestigious events on the WTA calendar.
Having become a WTA 1000 event in 2009, the draw has since expanded to 96 singles players and 32 doubles teams competing for 1,000 PIF WTA ranking points, making it the third-largest tennis event in the United States, behind only the US Open and the Miami Open.
Eala competes as seed No. 17 with Zeynep Sönmez, Daria Kasatkina, and seed No. 9 Amanda Anisimova within the same bracket. Other notable players on her side of the draw include seed No. 6 Linda Noskova, No. 27 Clara Tauson, and wildcard Katie Volynets.
There is also a possible quarterfinals setup where she faces seed No. 3 Jessica Pegula whom she defeated in the DC Open finals.
The tournament starts tomorrow, August 13, and ends on August 23 in time for the US Open.
Before heading to Cincinnati, Eala also had dinner and TikTok time with Coco Gauff in Toronto.