By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala hopes to create abuzz when she goes for her first win in the prestigious 2025 Miami Open against a dangerous rival in American Katie Volynets this week in Florida.
The 19-year-old Eala, who was given one of the seven wildcard berths, is bracketed in the lower part of the 128-player main draw that has world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, No. 4 Jessica Pegula and world No. 5 Madison Keys, No. 8 Emma Navarro and No. 10 Paula Badosa.
This isn’t the first time that Eala is competing in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA1000) event. She saw action last year, but lost in the second qualifying round to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Ranked No. 140 in the world, Eala faces a daunting task against the 23-year-old Volynets, who is currently at No. 73 and went as high as No. 56 last year. They have never met in any WTA events.
Though Eala has more International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles titles with five than Volynets’ two, the American boasts of a WTA Challenger finals crown that she won in Croatia last year.
Volynets also has two Top 10 wins: against then No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova at the 2023 Australian Open, and No. 6 Ons Jabeur at the 2024 Indian Well, both in the second round.
Volynets last played late February at the ATX Open, a WTA50 event in Austin, Texas, where she finished in the first round, while Eala is also coming off a second-round finish at the W75 Trnava, an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event in Slovakia a few weeks back.
A victory for Eala against Volynets would arrange her a tougher battle against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who earned a first round bye.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka banners the strong field that also has Fil-Canadian Leylah Fernandez, No. 3 Coco Gauff, multiple Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, and 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu, to name a few.
