No. 13 seed Alex Eala opens her Wuhan Open campaign against Chinese qualifier Shi Han on Monday at around 9 p.m., Philippine time.
The first-round match is on Dongfeng Voyah Center Court, after the all-Chinese contest between Wang Xiyu and Wang Xinyu at 7:30 p.m., Manila Times reports. Wuhan shares Philippine time.
Shi, 21 and ranked No. 231 per the Manila Times, came through qualifying with wins over Peyton Stearns, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, and Uzbekistan's Kamilla Rakhimova, 7-6, 6-1.
It is world No. 18 Eala's first match since her Asian Games bronze, where she lost in the semifinals to Wang Xiyu.
A win sets up a second-round meeting with No. 28 Ekaterina Alexandrova or No. 26 Leylah Fernandez, Manila Times notes. Eala lost to Alexandrova 3-6, 3-6 in the Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals in February. She is 1-1 against Fernandez, losing in Stuttgart in April before winning 6-2, 7-6(1) in the DC Open round of 16 in August on her way to the title.
In doubles, Eala reunites with Zeynep Sönmez against Ukrainians Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska in the first round, GMA News reports. The friends last teamed up at the Madrid Open in May.
Eala is also set to slip one spot to No. 19 in Monday's WTA rankings, from her career-high No. 18, after Elise Mertens jumped from No. 19 to No. 14.
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