Alex Eala, 18-year-old SEA Games women’s doubles bronze medalist Tennielle Madis, and UAAP standouts Kaye Emana of UST and Elizabeth Abarquez of NU will defend the home front against an impressive field of international players when the main draw of the inaugural Philippine Open officially begins on Monday at the outdoor hard courts of the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Despite the withdrawal of some notable names for various reasons, the historic staging of a WTA 125 event in Manila will still feature top-level talent from players hailing from different parts of the world.
Leading the foreign contingent is top seed and world No. 42 Tatjana Maria of Germany.
The 38-year-old has established herself as an experienced tactician capable of defeating anyone on any given day.
Proof of this came when Maria came through the qualifiers to reach the finals of the 2025 Queen’s Club Championships, where she defeated current world No. 4 Amanda Anisimova of the United States in straight sets.
At 37 years and 312 days, she became the oldest player in history to win a WTA 500 event.
Eala, seeded second, will be eager for a chance at revenge against the German veteran, who has beaten her in all four of their previous encounters.
Second seed Solana Siera, Argentina’s No. 1 player, is currently ranked a career-high 63 in the world.
The 21-year-old comes off the best season of her young career in 2025, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon and claiming two WTA 125 titles.
A familiar name to Filipino fans is fourth seed Donna Vekic of Croatia, whom Eala defeated at the WTA ASB Classic in New Zealand and the Kooyong Classic in Australia this January.
The 29-year-old Vekic, who has a career-high ranking of 17, won silver in women’s singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics and also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon that same year.
Fifth seed Camille Osorio of Colombia was once the world’s No. 1 junior player.
Two years before Eala claimed the girls’ singles title at the US Open, Osorio won the same tournament in 2019. The 24-year-old Colombian has a career-high world ranking of 33.
Two players who have each beaten Eala twice in the past could emerge as dark horses in the competition.
Sixth seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2024, rising to 39th in the world rankings.
Unseeded Polina Kudermetova, formerly of Russia but now representing Uzbekistan, recently reached the second round of the Australian Open this January.
Thailand will also be represented by two players capable of causing upsets.
SEA Games women’s singles silver medalist Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who will face Madis in the opening round; and Lanlana Tararudee, drawn against seventh seed Simona Waltert of Switzerland, both had strong showings in the Australian Open main draw.
Their presence ensures that Southeast Asian talent will be felt beyond the Filipino bets.
