Alex Eala could end up focusing on the professional ranks instead of utilizing her final year in the juniors circuit as she trains her sights on Grand Slam events.
Eala is the current champion of the US Open and has the option to play it out in her last year in the junior girls’ circuit.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m still eligible until the end of the year to join junior tournaments but at the moment, I don’t think it gives me as much experience and as many benefits as it would playing professionally,” Eala said.
“If it fits into my schedule, I will always have the option. But for now, I don’t have any junior matches planned.”
Eala, currently ranked at No. 217 in the Women’s Tennis Association, last won a title in the juniors division of the women’s singles at the 2022 US Open last September.
Since then, the 17-year-old prodigy has been focusing on women’s tournaments and is in hot pursuit of her third title in the professional circuit after wins in the W15 Manacor in 2021 and the W25 Chiang Rai in Thailand last April.
Eala is plotting her tournaments for her to qualify for the French Open from 28 May to 11 June and with its date so close to the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, which happens from 5 to 17 May, the chances of Eala playing for the national team are looking bleak.
She is, however, open to the idea of playing at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China this September.
“The Southeast Asian Games is a difficult time for me because it collides with the French Open, which happens only a week after so it would be a big adjustment for me to go from Cambodia to the clay courts in France. The Grand Slams are my priority this year and, as for now, it looks like I’m not going,” said Eala, who grabbed three bronze medals in her SEA Games debut last year in Hanoi.
“But if it doesn’t collide with anything, I would love to play in the Asian Games.”