ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Second-seeded Alex Eala faces Russian opponent in Philippine Women's Open

Second-seeded Alex Eala faces Russian opponent in Philippine Women's Open

Published Jan 24, 2026 04:09 pm

At A Glance

  • Alex Eala enters the inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women's Open as the second seed as she faces Russian Alina Charaeva in the opening round beginning on Monday, Jan. 26, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
ALEX EALA leads fellow Filipina players in the Philippine Women’s Open. (File Photo/AP)
ALEX EALA leads fellow Filipina players in the Philippine Women’s Open. (File Photo/AP)
Alex Eala enters the inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open as the second seed as she faces Russian Alina Charaeva in the opening round beginning on Monday, Jan. 26, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
It will be the second meeting between Eala and Charaeva, with their first encounter dating back to 2020 at the W15 Melilla in Spain. In that International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tour event, Eala lost to the Russian in the first round after advancing through two qualifying matches.
Much has changed since then. Now 20 years old, Eala is enjoying a career-high singles ranking of No. 49 and has made main draw appearances in all four Grand Slam tournaments. She also has one WTA singles title on her belt, won last year in Guadalajara.
A WTA event is also happening for the first time on home soil, something that Eala finds surreal.
"So surreal to have a home tournament and see it come to life, I'm so grateful, a little kind of disbelief that this is really happening," said Eala.
Charaeva, 23, is currently ranked No. 163 but reached a career-high as No. 142 in September last year. She has captured six singles in the ITF Women’s Circuit.
Although Eala holds the advantage on paper, she remains wary of the challenge ahead.
"I met her and she's really a nice person, and I'm prepared and will give the best of my ability, just go out there and do my best,” Eala said.
World No. 42 Tatjana Maria headlines the field as the tournament’s top seed and is scheduled to meet Leolia Jeanjean. Other seeded players are third pick and world No. 63 Solana Sierra, 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic, fifth seed and world No. 84 Camila Osorio, sixth seed Lulu Sun, and seventh seed Simona Walter.
Meanwhile, Filipina players who earned wildcard berths are out to prove their worth with Elizabeth Abarquez colliding with Japanese Mai Hontama, Tenny Madis clashing with Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew, and Kaye Ann Emana meeting Tatiana Prozorova.
Stefi Aludo seeks to join them after dumping Angeline Alcala, 6-1, 6-0, in the first qualifying round on Saturday, Jan. 24, a win that put her one victory away from the main draw. She next faces Sakura Hosogi, who earned a bye.
“Sobrang happy po na I get to win sa harap po ng mga kababayan natin,” said Aludo. “Mas gagalingan ko pa po sa susunod ko na laban.”
Not so fortunate was Louraine Jallorina, who yielded to Thai Peangtarn Plipuech, 0-6, 1-6.
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.