Friendships will have to take a backseat when Alex Eala begins her singles campaign at the WTA Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, scheduled from February 1-7 at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.
Eala will face her friend and former doubles partner, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, in the opening round on Monday.
The 20-year-old Eala and 23-year-old Sonmez both received wildcard entries for the first of three major events in the Middle East swing of the women’s tour.
The two have faced each other in the past. In November 2023, Eala came from 1-4 deficits twice to beat Sonmez, 7-6(5), 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the ITF W60 Engie Open Nantes Atlantique in France.
Two years later, Eala repeated the feat with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the first round of the qualifiers at the WTA 250 Lexus Eastbourne Open 2025.
Eala and Sonmez have also partnered in doubles, reaching the semifinals at the 2024 1st Empire Women’s Indoor in Slovakia and the 2023 ITF Kyotec Open in Luxembourg.
Just days after her quarterfinal exit at the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open, Eala will be looking to make a deep run in the WTA 500 tournament in the UAE capital.
However, she will first have to overcome the Turkish number one, who enters the match riding high on confidence after reaching the third round of the Australian Open.
Sonmez caused a major upset in the opening round by defeating world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
The winner of the Eala-Sonmez match will advance to the second round to face the victor of the all-Spanish clash between eighth seed Paula Badosa and Jessica Maneiro Bouzas.
In doubles, Southeast Asian fans will finally get to see a dream pairing as Eala teams up with Indonesian star Janice Tjen, who recently reached the second round in singles at the Australian Open.
The duo, however, faces a tough challenge against Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France. Fernandez, 23, is ranked 68th in doubles and has reached the French Open doubles final.
Mladenovic, 32, a former world No. 1 in doubles, recently won the WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland and has claimed the Australian Open twice and the French Open four times.
