Eala pitted against World No. 163 Russian in Philippine Women's Open 1st round

MANILA, Philippines — The draw is in for the Philippine Women’s Open.

Alex Eala will be facing Alina Charaeva in the first round of the Women’s Tennis Association 125 event, the main draw revealed.

The Filipina tennis ace is seeded second in the tournament, which is the first WTA 125 event held in the country.

The World No. 49 tennister is a heavy favorite in the tournament.

The 23-year-old Russian is ranked 163rd in the world.

The winner of their matchup will face either Nao Hibino or Himeno Sakatsume.

The top seed of the tournament is German ace Tatjana Maria, who will take on France’s Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.

The winner in the clash will collide with either UAAP Season 87 women’s Most Valuable Player Kaye Emana or Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova.

Filipina tennisters Elizabeth Abarquez and Tennielle Madis will also see action in the main draw. The former will play Mai Hontama of Japan, while the latter will duke it out with Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

Four more main draw places are up for grabs and will still be determined via the qualifiers.

Stefi Aludo will clash with Japan’s Sakura Hosogi in the second round of the qualifiers after she defeated fellow Filipino Angeline Alcala, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round on Saturday.

Peangtarn Plipuech also stamped a ticket to the next round of the qualifiers after beating hometown bet Louraine Jallorina, 6-0, 6-1.

Pilpuech is matched against Rina Saigo, who had a bye in the first round.

Viktoria Morvavoya and Nicole Fossa Huergo will tussle it out in the next bracket, as the winner will go against the victor between Mia Horvit and Miho Kuramochi.

The main draw is from January 26-31.

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