Metro Manila, Philippines – Tennis takes the spotlight as some of the top players in the world see action in the Philippine Women’s Open next week.
Local ace Alex Eala confirmed that she will be participating in the historic tournament, which will be held at the newly-refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center from Jan. 26 to 31.
Eala is coming off an early exit in the Australian Open after bowing to American Alycia Parks in the first round.
Joining the world No. 49 Eala are Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic of Croatia (No. 72), Tatjana Maria of Germany (No. 42), and Wang Xinyu of China (No. 46), who defeated Eala in the ASB Classic semifinals in New Zealand earlier this month.
Tenny Madis, who is the second Filipino player in the field, will also compete as a wildcard. She bagged the bronze medal in the women’s and team events at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games last December.
Here’s the list of the other confirmed players:
Solana Sierra of Argentina (No. 63)
Kimberly Birrell of Australia (No. 76)
Camila Osorio of Colombia (No. 84)
Yue Yuan of China (No. 85)
Lulu Sun of New Zealand (No. 86)
Simona Waltert of Switzerland (No. 87)
Moyuka Uchijima of Japan (No. 88)
Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan (No. 94)
Darja Semenistaja of Latvia (No. 98)
Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia (No. 102)
Leolia Jeanjean of France (No. 103)
Yulia Starodubtseva of Ukraine (No. 110)
Joanna Garland of Taiwan (No. 117)
Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand (No. 131)
Himeno Sakatsume of Japan (No. 140)
Sofia Costoulas of Belgium (No. 143)
Elina Avanesyan of Armenia (No. 149)
Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan (No. 150)
Alina Charaeva of Russia (No. 163)
Lin Zhu of China (No. 164)
Nao Hibino of Japan (No. 204)
This is the first WTA 125 event happening in the country.
The prize money for this tournament is $115,000 (about ₱6.8 million).
