MANILA – Filipino tennis star Alexandra Eala made it to the second round of the WTA 500 Linz Open in Austria, her first tournament on clay court this year.
The 2025 Southeast Asian Games singles gold medalist pulled off a 6-4, 6-3 victory over hometown bet Julia Grabher after one hour and 42 minutes at the Design Center Linz on Wednesday morning, April 8, 2026 (PH time).
Eala, ranked No. 46 in the world, will be up against fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko, who took a first-round bye along with top seed Mirra Andreeva, second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and third seed Liudmila Samsonova.
Meanwhile, American Sloane Stephens defeated German Tatjana Maria, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to advance against Andreeva.
Alexandrova, the defending champion, will face the winner between Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Samsonova, on the other hand, will battle Austrian Lilli Tagger, who prevailed over Spanish Paula Badosa, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Fifth seed Romanian Sorana Cirstea downed Austrian Sinja Kraus, 6-3, 6-3, to forge a second-round showdown with Hungarian Dalma Galfi, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over American Alycia Parks.
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, a runner-up last year, eliminated seventh seed American Ann Li, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, to set up a duel with Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who survived British Katie Boulter, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).
German Tamara Korpatsch shocked sixth seed Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the second round, where she will meet the winner between Austrian Anastasia Potapova and Chinese Shuai Zhang.
Croatian Donna Vekic conquered American Katie Volynets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to book a second-round ticket. She will face the winner between Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina and Hungarian Panna Udvardy. / PNA