Alex Eala draws Alycia Parks in Hong Kong Tennis Open first round as No. 2 seed

Alexandra “Alex” Eala is seeded No. 2 in the Hong Kong Tennis Open, with the WTA 250 tournament set to begin its main draw on Monday.

Eala, currently ranked world No. 19, joins top seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, Canadian Leylah Fernandez, Greek Maria Sakkari, Australian Talia Gibson, China's Wang Xinyu, Liudmila Samsonova, and British player Katie Boulter among the tournament's top seeds.

Also included in the player field are tennis icon Venus Williams, who received a wildcard, Eala's previous opponents Alina Charaeva, Maya Joint, and Dayana Yastremska, as well as her friend Zeynep Sonmez.

Eala will face American Alycia Parks in the first round, setting up their third career meeting and third showdown this year.

Parks defeated Eala in their first encounter in the opening round of the Australian Open in January, 0-6, 6-3, 6-2. Eala then exacted revenge at the Canadian Open in August, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

The winner of the match will face either Czech player Tereza Valentova or China's Sun Xinran in the next round.

Eala is coming off a quarterfinal exit at the Pan Pacific Open, where she lost to eventual champion Diana Shnaider, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Alex Eala's Season recap (singles)

Asian swing

• Pan Pacific Open — Quarterfinals
• Ningbo Open — Round of 16
• Wuhan Open — Round of 64
• Singapore Tennis Open — Round of 16

North American swing

• US Open — Round of 32
• Cincinnati Open — Round of 32
• Canadian Open — Round of 16
• DC Open — Champion

Grass-court swing

• Wimbledon (Grand Slam) — Round of 16
• Bad Homburg Open (WTA 500) — Round of 32
• Berlin Tennis Open (WTA 500) — Semifinals
• HSBC Championships (WTA 500) — Round of 16
• Birmingham Open (WTA 125) — Champion

Clay-court swing

• French Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
• Italian Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 32
• Madrid Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
• Stuttgart Open (WTA 500) — Round of 32
• Linz Open (WTA 500) — Round of 16

Sunshine Swing

• Miami Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16
• Indian Wells Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16

Middle East Swing

• Dubai Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) — Quarterfinals
• Qatar Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
• Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) — Quarterfinals

Philippine Women’s Open (WTA 125) — Quarterfinals

Australian Swing

• Australian Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
• ASB Classic (WTA 250) — Semifinals

—JKC, GMA News