Alex Eala didn’t want to leave anything to chance ahead of her Singapore Open main draw debut.
Eala still found time to work on her game Thursday in an open practice session at Court 1, just hours before her round-of-16 match against Russian Tatiana Prozorova.
The Filipino third seed plays the 180th-ranked Prozorova before an expected sold-out crowd at Center Court scheduled not before 6:30 p.m.
Eala drew a first-round bye and was in the bottom half of the draw, pushing her keenly awaited first appearance to Thursday night.
Night session tickets had already been sold out since Tuesday in anticipation of Eala, who’s brought her massive following along to every city she’s in.
Eala is not only expected to cruise past Prozorova, but she’s also tipped to easily reach the final against Russian top seed Mirra Andreeva, who headlines the top half of the bracket.
Andreeva issued a warning after easing past Belarusian Aliaksanda Sasnovich, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals against Canadian-Filipino Leylah Fernandez.