Sourced online from Tennis Tonic by Tracy Cabrera
MANILA, Philippines — Czech ace Tereza Valentová leads the head-to-head record against Philippines’ rising star Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala 2–0 in professional matches but on this year’s hard courts, the 21-year-old Filipina is 28–15 and Valentova is 23–14 with bookmakers making the country’s pride the favorite at -185.
Eala gets another crack at Valentova in the round of 16 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 250 Hong Kong Open, hopeful to exact vengeance as the 19-year-old Czech had previously won in their first two meetings, including a 7-6(6), 6-1 victory in February at the Qatar Open round of 64.
The pair’s third face off is tentatively scheduled for today at 2:00 p.m.
The second-seeded Eala overcame a tough opening match on Tuesday night, fending off a gritting Emerson Jones of Australia with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at Center Court of the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium in Causeway Bay.
Jones was a last-minute replacement, filling in for American Alycia Parks, who was forced to pull out due to a shoulder injury.
In today’s match, Eala is expected to come out swinging as she has expressed determination to end her breakthrough season with a second WTA crown after winning the Washington Open three months ago.
Eala is currently ranked 17th in the world and she is again looking to draw a boost from the big Filipino crowd, which, to no one’s surprise, showed up to cheer for the 21-year-old lefty in her first-round match against Jones.
Hong Kong has more than 200,000 overseas Filipino workers, based on 2025 statistics from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Despite showing an upgrade in Eala’s recent performance, the Filipina is in for a tough battle as
Valentova, two years her junior, aims to reassert her dominance.
She advanced to the second round after turning back Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume, 6-3, 7-5, on Tuesday, November 3, at Court 2.
