(Photo courtesy of WTA website)
Filipina tennis star Alexandra Eala will open her campaign against American Alycia Parks in the first round of the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Open at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium on Tuesday, November 3.
Ranked world No. 19, Eala enters the tournament as the second seed, hoping to finish her 2026 season on a strong note.
The Hong Kong Open is among the final tour-level events of the season for players who did not qualify for the WTA Finals, scheduled from November 8 to 15 in Indian Wells, United States.
Eala expressed excitement about returning to Hong Kong, where she enjoyed strong crowd support during last year’s tournament.
“I am super excited to be back. Playing here last year was amazing, the crowd, the hospitality, so I couldn’t be happier to be back,” Eala said during Monday’s pre-tournament press conference.
In the 2025 edition, Eala advanced past Britain’s Katie Boulter, 6-4, 2-1, after the latter retired due to a thigh injury in their opening-round encounter.
However, the Filipina bowed out in the Round of 16 following a 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 defeat to Canada’s Victoria Mboko, who eventually captured the championship.
Mboko defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, 7-5, 6-7(9), 6-2, in the final to secure the title.
Eala heads into the Hong Kong tournament following a quarterfinal appearance at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, last week.
She suffered a 6-2, 6-7(5), 4-6 defeat to third seed Diana Shnaider despite taking the opening set.
Shnaider eventually claimed the Tokyo championship after defeating Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, in the final.
The Russian also eliminated Eala in the Round of 16 at the Ningbo Open in China two weeks earlier, winning their encounter, 7-5, 6-4.
Eala’s recent campaign has featured mixed results following her bronze-medal finish in women’s singles at the Nagoya Asian Games on October 1.
At the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open, the 13th-seeded Eala suffered an opening-round defeat to Chinese qualifier Shi Han, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6.
She also endured an early exit at the WTA 500 Singapore Open, where the third-seeded Filipina lost to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova, 4-6, 7-5, 3-6.
With the 2026 season nearing its conclusion, Eala will seek to regain momentum against Parks and advance deeper into the Hong Kong tournament.
