ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Olympian medalist Vekic banners early entries in Philippine Women's Open; Eala receives wildcard

Olympian medalist Vekic banners early entries in Philippine Women's Open; Eala receives wildcard

Published Jan 3, 2026 09:20 pm

At A Glance

  • Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic and world No. 45 Tatjana Maria banner the early list of entries in the inaugural Philippine Women's Open kicking off on Jan. 26 at the newly-refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.
Donna Vekic is one of the notable early entries at the Philippine Women's Open. (WTA)
Donna Vekic is one of the notable early entries at the Philippine Women's Open. (WTA)
Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic and world No. 45 Tatjana Maria banner the early list of entries in the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open kicking off on Jan. 26 at the newly-refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.
Both were on the provisional list of 24 players released over the weekend by the Women’s Tennis Association in the 32-olayer draw for the country’s first WTA125 tournament.
Vekic, a semifinalist in the 2024 Wimbledon, is currently ranked No. 69 and remains among the players to watch in the competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Meanwhile, PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio and Philta officials inspected the progress of the facility’s refurbishment on Friday, Jan. 2.
“Twenty-two days to go before WTA 125. So no Christmas break, no New Year break. No holiday break. Everybody's here, PHILTA is here, [PSC] Commissioners, PSC people are here," said Gregorio.  
“We're all here just to make sure we transform Rizal Tennis [Center] as a showcase for the first-ever hosting of the WTA 125 in Manila," added Gregorio.
Vekic and Maria are among the 10 players inside the Top 100 that are seeing action in the tournament.
Also in the early list of entries are 2023 French Open doubles champion Wang Xinxu (No. 57), three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva (No. 71), Camila Osorio (No. 77), Yue Yuan (No. 83), Simona Waltert (No. 87), Lulu Sun (No. 90), Moyuka Uchijima (No. 94) and Kimberly Berrell (No. 98).
In the event they are available, hometown bet and recently crowned Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alex Eala (No. 53) and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen (No. 56) will be awarded wildcard berths by Philta.
Eala and Tjen are committed to play in the main draw of the Australian Open that runs from Jan. 18 to Feb. 1 , and which overlaps with the Philippine Women’s Open.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.