Marking a strong start to her latest campaign.
On Monday evening (Manila time), Filipina tennis star Alex Eala competed in the opening round of the main draw at the Abu Dhabi Open 2026 in the United Arab Emirates.
The 20-year-old, who is fresh from her stint at the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open in Manila and her career-best placement at the 45th spot in the WTA rankings, showed her might on the hard court anew.
A face with her friend, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkiye, was the first order of business for the Filipina netter in the tournament.
While Sonmez took hold of the game early on in the first set, Eala was able to close the gap and even lead by two points. Despite efforts to erode that, the Filipina held strongly and ended it with a win.
Carrying over that momentum into the second set, where Alex was able to make a 3-0 rally. Although, that came in too late for Zeynep, as the Pinay closed the match with a victory, 6-4, 6-3.
With this win, the World No. 45 is now set to face current World No. 109, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, in the Round of 16 scheduled for Wednesday, February 4.
Meanwhile, Alex is teaming up with fellow Southeast Asian, Janice Tjen of Indonesia, in the doubles category.
Together, they will take on the duo of Canadian Leylah Fernandez and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladevonic in the game that will happen Tuesday night (Manila time).
