Eala faces Sonmez of Turkey in Round 1 of Abu Dhabi Open

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA resumes her campaign in the WTA Tour against Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in Round 1 of the stacked WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open starting on Monday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.

It will be the third duel between two good pals with the 20-year-old Filipina holding a 2-0 head-to-head advantage after wins in the 2023 W60 Nantes in France and the 2025 Eastbourne Open in England.

Ms. Eala, WTA No. 49, plunges into action with an all-time high morale after bringing the first-ever WTA tournament at home, the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open where she reached the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to eventual champion Camila Osorio of Colombia (WTA No. 84).

Game time is still to be determined after the ongoing qualifiers but hopes are high for Ms. Eala to go deep in the rich Middle East city despite going up against a stacked squad led by reigning champion, No. 1 seed and WTA No. 10 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Also in the fray are world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia (No. 2 seed), No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark (No. 3 seed) and No. 15 Emma Navarro of the United States (No. 4 seed).

Ms. Tauson is a familiar foe whom Ms. Eala beat in the Round 1 of the US Open, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11), to become the first Filipina winner in any Grand Slam main draw.

Former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia (No. 24), whom Ms. Eala drubbed in the 2025 Miami Open that ignited her entry to the Top 100 and later on Top 50 as the first Filipina to do so, is also among the top seeds along with No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez (No. 23) and Paula Badosa (No. 26) of Spain.

“Practice day,” said the weary Ms. Eala, who wasted no time refining her bearings upon landing in the bustling city. She left Manila on Friday night.

Ms. Eala will also strut her stuff in the doubles, teaming up with Southeast Asian (SEA) pal Janice Tjen of Indonesia, WTA No. 59.

The 23-year-old Ms. Tjen beat her junior rival Ms. Eala, 6-4, 6-1, in the WTA 250 Sao Paulo Open quarterfinals last year but they’re now joining forces for SEA tennis against Ms. Fernandez (doubles No. 68) and Kristina Mladenovic of France (doubles No. 49).

Leading to Abu Dhabi, Ms. Eala is having a roaring start to her 2026 season so far following a semifinal finish at the ASB Classic in Auckland, an exhibition championship in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne and a Last 8 stint in Manila.

Ms. Eala also came off a historic main draw debut in the Australian Open, the first Pinay to do so as well, albeit she bowed to WTA No. 99 Alycia Parks — the fastest serve in women’s tennis history — 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 in Round 1 before a jampacked crowd in Melbourne as one of the world’s rising stars. — John Bryan Ulanday