Who is Alina Charaeva? Alex Eala’s first-round opponent in the Philippine Women’s Open

Alexandra “Alex” Eala is set to play on home soil as the Philippine Women’s Open main draw begins Monday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

In the Round of 32, Eala will open her campaign against Russia’s Alina Charaeva.

The 23-year-old Charaeva is currently ranked No. 163 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings and reached a career-high No. 142 in September last year.

Charaeva is coming off a stint at the Australian Open, where she competed in the first round of the qualifiers. She bowed out in a tightly contested match against Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(10).

She also saw action in the ASB Classic earlier this month but fell in the opening round to Korea’s Ku Yeonwoo, 3-6, 2-6.

Eala, meanwhile, enters the tournament ranked No. 49 in the world.

The 20-year-old Filipina enjoyed a strong showing at the ASB Classic, where she reached the semifinals before losing to Wang Xinyu, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6. She is also coming off a first-round exit at the Australian Open, where she fell to Alycia Parks, 6-0, 3-6, 2-6.

The Philippine Women’s Open main draw gets underway on Monday.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News