AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Starting her Australian campaign in the doubles event of the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) Classic beginning today, Filipina sensation Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala will face Donna Vekic of Croatia in tomorrow’s opener of the singles matches that features tennis icon Venus Williams and world’s number 35 Emma Navarro.
Today, the 20-year-old Quezon City lass teams up with American Iva Jovic, two years younger, against a tough opening round match as they take on former Grand Slam champion Williams and tennis icon Venus Williams of United States and former world’s number 3 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Tennis fans are hopeful for a historic quarterfinal clash between the 2025 Southeast Asian Games women’s tennis gold medalist and Williams, who is now currently ranked 145th in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)’s world rankings.
Eala wrapped up her 2025 season with a bang, winning top honors in the biennial Sea Games and playing an exhibition match at the Macau Tennis Masters alongside tennis legends Li Na of China and Conchita Martinez of Spain.
Meanwhile, Donna Vekic and resurgent German veteran Tatjana Maria head the impressive list of early entries in the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open kicking off January 26 at the newly refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Both netter were on the provisional list of 24 players released over the weekend by the WTA in the 32-player draw for the first WTA 125 tournament to be held in the Philippines.
Ranked second in the WTA ratings at the turn of 2024, Vekic, 29, a 2024 French Open semifinalist, is now ranked No. 69 but still remains among the players to watch in the blue-ribbon competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association (PhilTA) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
The right-handed Croatian is a product of the famed IMG Academy founded by noted American tennis instructor Nick Bolletieri that also produced the likes of Grand Slam champions Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, among others.
Since turning pro at 17, the Croatian, who has four career titles, has earned a whopping US$10,217,035 (around ₱601 million) over her career and does charity work in her hometown of Osijek, opening three public courts modelled after Grand Slam venues.
On the other hand, Maria, 38, who reached a career-high of No. 36, showed that she has not lost her edge despite her age, achieving a stirring win at the Queen Club Championships in June last year for her fourth WTA Title.
Vekic and Maria are among the 10 players in the WTA top 100 of the prestigious tournament sanctioned by the WTA and supported by the PSC. In the event they are available, hometown favorite and 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alex Eala (No. 53) and Indonesia’s Janice Tjien (No. 56) were awarded wild cards by PhilTA.
Meanwhile, Eala and Tjien are committed to play in the main draw of the Australian Open that runs from January 18 to February 1 at the Melbourne Park hardcourts in Melbourne, Australia, and which overlaps with the Philippine Women’s Open.