Alexandra Eala and Emma Raducanu are already looking ahead to the clay court season.
Eala just lost in the fourth round of Indian Wells to Linda Noskova, after overcoming matches with Coco Gauff and Dayana Yastremska.
The Filipina has continued to rise up the rankings over the past year, but Eala now faces pressure ahead of the Miami Open, where she enjoyed a breakout run to the semifinals last year.
Alexandra Eala will finish 2026 ranked — in the world
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It was a more disappointing Indian Wells tournament for Raducanu, who suffered a heavy defeat to Amanda Anisimova, but she will now look to put this behind her ahead of the Miami Open and her first clay court tournament of the year.
Alexandra Eala and Emma Raducanu to begin clay court season in Linz
Eala and Raducanu have both been confirmed for the Linz Open next month.
The WTA 500 tournament in Linz had previously been held on hard courts, but it has switched to indoor clay for 2026.
Top seeds at the upcoming tournament include Ekaterina Alexandrova, Clara Tauson and Liudmila Samsonova, with Raducanu as the fourth seed, while Eala is also seeded at seventh.
| Linz Open 2026 | Seeded Players |
| 1 | Ekaterina Alexandrova |
| 2 | Clara Tauson |
| 3 | Liudmila Samsonova |
| 4 | Emma Raducanu |
| 5 | Emma Navarro |
| 6 | Jelena Ostapenko |
| 7 | Alexandra Eala |
| 8 | Jaqueline Cristian |
Eala has never played in Linz before, while Raducanu made her only previous appearance at the tournament after winning the US Open in 2021, losing in the first round of the then hard court event.
Some of the other notable names in the Linz field include former world number one Karolina Pliskova, and Grand Slam champions Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova, all of whom have had recent injury woes.
The Upper Austria Linz Open will get underway from Monday, April 6.
Who has the better clay court record out of Alexandra Eala and Emma Raducanu?
Both Eala and Raducanu are still relatively inexperienced on clay in terms of the WTA Tour at least.
Raducanu has a positive win-loss record on the surface, and achieved a breakthrough run at the Italian Open last year after reaching the fourth round.
The Briton has only made two previous appearances at the French Open, with Raducanu reaching the second round on both occasions.
Will Emma Raducanu ever win another Grand Slam title?
While she has enjoyed a breakout past 12 months, there are still some concerns about Eala’s clay court game.
Eala has only won three of her 10 previous matches on the surface on the WTA Tour, and she has never surpassed the second round of any tournament on clay.
The 20-year-old made her main draw debut at the French Open last year, but Eala suffered a first round defeat to Emiliana Arango.
| Alexandra Eala | Emma Raducanu | |
| Win-loss record on clay (WTA Tour/BJK Cup) | 3-7 (30%) | 16-12 (57.1%) |
| Best Result on clay | Madrid Open – Second Round (2024 & 2025) | Italian Open – Fourth Round (2025) |
| Best Result at the French Open | First Round (2025) | Second Round (2022 & 2025) |
Before they switch their focus to clay, Eala and Raducanu will have their sights set on the Miami Open.
Both players have a significant number of ranking points to defend in Miami, with Eala reaching the semifinals last year, while Raducanu made the quarterfinals.
The Miami Open main draw starts on Tuesday, March 17, but Eala and Raducanu will not play their first matches until at least Thursday, March 19, as seeded players.
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