FILIPINO tennis sensation Alexandra “Alex” Eala makes her main draw debut at the Australian Open (AO) in Melbourne on Monday. Since breaking into the top 100 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings in March last year after a stellar run at the Miami Open, Eala gained a direct entry in the year’s first Grand Slam event after not getting past the first round of the qualifying stages from 2023 to 2025. World No. 49 Eala sees action in the round of 128 at 9:40 a.m., taking on No. 100 Alycia Parks of the United States at Melbourne Park Court 6. “It feels great; I’m super excited,” said the 20-year-old Eala on Friday in the tournament’s kickstart press conference. “You know, coming in as a main draw player gives a different vibe, especially with the struggles I had in the past coming here. So, I’m super excited coming here in full force,” she said. Eala said she’s in the best shape possible for her main draw debut appearance after reaching the semifinals at the ASB Classic in Auckland and an exhibition match at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne. “I think I’ve planned well and my team has done well to arrive here in the best shape possible. It’s a Grand Slam, so we’re not looking over that fact, and I’m ready. I’m here,” she said. If Eala beats Parks, she will enter the round of 64 and face either Czech Karolina Muchova or Romanian Jacqueline Cristian. At the ASB Classic, she dropped Croatians Donna Vekic and Petra Marcinko, and Polish Magda Linette before yielding to Chinese Wang Xinyu in the semis on Jan. 10. “Getting matches always helps before Slams, so I’m confident with how I’m playing. It doesn’t mean that matches aren’t going to be tough here so I’m ready for playing here,” added Eala, who repeated over Vekic at the Kooyong Classic on Jan. 14. Eala ranks significantly higher than Parks, but the 25-year-old American will not be an easy opponent. Parks may have fallen at the ASB Classic opener and at the Hobart International second-round qualifiers to start the year, but she is a proven winner, at least in the early stages of not just the Australian Open but the other majors as well. She reached the third round of the 2024 Australian Open and the second round of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2023, the same year she ruled the 250-tier Lyon Open in France and achieved a career-best 40th rank. In comparison, Eala, a 125-level titlist at the Guadalajara Open last September, only moved past the first round of a major once in three attempts. She bowed out in the opener of the Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year before getting a breakthrough win at the US Open, taking down Danish Clara Tauson. Eala will also make her debut in the Australian Open doubles main draw on Tuesday. A 2020 AO juniors doubles champion, Eala teams up with Brazilian Ingrid Martins against the Polish-Japanese tandem of Linette and Shuko Aoyama in the first round.