Third seed Alex Eala kicks off SP Open bid against Yasmine Mansouri

The grind doesn't stop for Alex Eala as she begins her campaign at the SP Open in Sao Paolo, Brazil as the tournament’s third-seeded player.

The Filipina tennis star will be taking on Yasmine Mansouri of France in the Round of 32 on early Wednesday, marking her first action since capturing her breakthrough WTA 125 title in the Guadalajara 125 Open over the weekend.

Alex Eala and Yasmine Mansouri will face each other for the first time as the Filipina ace enters their SP Open clash as the favorite.

The 20-year-old Eala currently sits at world No. 61, while the 24-year-old French bet, ranked 380th, leans on three years of professional experience but is still in search of her first WTA title.

Eala is hoping to pick up where she left off from the Guadalajara 125 tournament, where she staged a mighty comeback in the finals to stun Hungary’s Panna Udvardy with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

The WTA 125 circuit, including the Guadalajara 125 Open, "offers both established WTA players and talented newcomers the ability to build their careers and progress up to the highest levels of the WTA Tour," according to the WTA website.

The higher levels of the WTA Tour are the WTA 250, WTA 500, and WTA 1000, with the numbers denoting the ranking points to be awarded to the winners of each tournament. Grand Slams, such as the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, award 2000 ranking points.

The SP Open is a WTA 250 event and will serve as the first WTA event in the city in 25 years.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News