By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala needs to elevate her game a north higher if she is to hurdle Croatian Jana Fett in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in Melbourne.
Eala, who is currently ranked No. 138 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), is expected to have her hands full against the Croatian who is ranked No. 134 and who has been competing in Grand Slam events since 2018.
Despite her vast experiences, Fett, 28, only managed to make it past the second round twice – at the 2018 Australian Open and last year’s French Open.
Fett was ranked as high as No. 97 in 2017.
Eala, for her part, debuted in the Grand Slams at the 2023 Australian Open after earning a spot in the qualifiers, but she is yet to make it to the main draw.
To make it to the main round, Eala would need to win three qualifying matches.
She almost managed to make it to the main draw three times last year, but lost in her third match at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
If she prevails against Fett, she would next face the winner between Slovakia’s Viktoria Hruncakova and Austria’s Sinja Kraus.
Eala is coming off a stint at the Workday Canberra International last week where she lost in the semifinals to Wei Sijia of China. So far, she boasts of five International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles titles.
“Fought hard last week, but the path in 2025 has just begun. Next stop: Australian Open,” Eala wrote in a social media post.
