ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider After PH stint, Eala sets sights in Abu Dhabi

After PH stint, Eala sets sights in Abu Dhabi

Published Jan 31, 2026 03:00 pm

At A Glance

  • Alex Eala hopes to regain her winning ways when she competes in the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open on Feb. 1 to 7 at th International Tennis Center in United Arab Emirates.
Alex Eala eyes to regain winning ways for the upcoming WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open. (PWO)
Alex Eala eyes to regain winning ways for the upcoming WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open. (PWO)
Alex Eala hopes to regain her winning ways when she competes in the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open on Feb. 1 to 7 at th International Tennis Center in United Arab Emirates.
The world No. 49 Eala earned a wildcard berth in the main draw, along with Indonesian Janice Tjen. They will join fellow Southeast Asian players Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
“So proud to be in that kind of group of girls who are really lifting up the sport in our region,” said Eala. “I think the level is really there,” said Eala.
“As you can see, four young women in the [Australian Open main draw] this year from Southeast Asia, I think it really creates a really good atmosphere and I think it can do really good things in the sport,” she added.
The main draw so far has four major titlists that include Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, Sofia Kenin and Barbora Krejcikova -- as well as defending champion Belinda Bencic.
Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, who missed the Australian Open due to recuperating from an elbow injury, is also scheduled to make her return in Abu Dhabi.
Eala is coming off a quarterfinals exit at the inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open after losing to Colombian Camila Osorio, 4-6, 4-6.
The Abu Dhabi tournament is Eala’s fourth stint in the WTA circuit this year, having playing in the WTA 250 ASBC Cup in New Zealand and the Australian Open before competing in Manila.
Meanwhile, Eala advised the public to be more aware and mindful of consuming information in this digital age.
She admitted she came across several false reports about her circulating online and acknowledged that the matter was beyond her control. Among which was a post that involved a veteran journalist allegedly insulting Eala during an evening news program.
“That's not really under my control. I don't have power over what other people post,” said Eala.
“I am aware that there have been a lot of fake news articles and it is concerning because I see sometimes they get a lot of likes and it's difficult,” she added.
In order to lessen the dissemination of baseless claims online, the current WTA No. 49 urged the public to think critically about what they watch, hear, or see online.
““I understand, to kind of tell the difference when you see it online. So I know a lot of people sometimes can get misinformed,” Eala said.
“I guess my take would just be to tell them to just try to find reliable sources of news and just try to listen to the dependable outlets. That's all I can say,” she added.
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.