Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala resumes her 2026 season at the Zayed Sports City International Center when she takes on Zeynep Sönmezin in Round 1 of the WTA500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
Eala enters the tournament as the 45th top player in the world after she moved up four spots from No. 49. World No. 45 is a new career-high ranking for the 20-year-old tennis sensation, and she’ll be looking to continue her rise in the rankings in Abu Dhabi.
The Rafa Nadal Academy alum last took the court in Manila in the quarterfinals of the recently concluded Philippine Women’s Open, where she lost to world No. 84 Camila Osorio of Colombia, 6-4, 6-4. The Colombian went on to win the inaugural tournament.
Alex Eala Meets Up with Familiar Opponent
When Alex Eala next takes the court, it will be against an opponent she’s already intimately familiar with: Turkey’s Zeynep Sönmezin.
Eala and Sönmezin have met twice before, with the Filipina winning both times. The first time they faced off was when Eala beat Sönmezin, 7-6(5), 6-4, in 2023 at W60 Nantes in France. The Quezon City native repeated over the Turkish bet, 6-1, 6-3, in 2025 at the Eastbourne Open in England.
The one-time Guadalajara Open champion will be looking to go 3-0 against Sönmezin later tonight.
WTA500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open Boasts a Stacked Field
The WTA500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open is a top-tier tennis tournament, and it unsurprisingly boasts an elite field of competitors. Aside from Eala, other names to watch in Abu Dhabi are reigning champion and world No. 10 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, world No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark, world No. 15 Emma Navarro of the United States, and world No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova of the United States as well.
Three other players in the top 30—Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, and Spain’s Paula Badosa—are also competing.
ALEX EALA NEXT MATCH:
- Alex Eala vs. Zeynep Sönmezin (Round of 32)
- Venue: Zayed Sports City International Center in Abu Dhabi
- Time: 10:10 p.m. Philippine Time
