World No. 18 Alex Eala could be busy as a bee to end October.
After falling short of her ultimate goal of winning gold in the Asian Games, the 21‑year‑old rising star will be back on the WTA Tour at the Wuhan Open in China. It is a WTA 1000 event that will run from October 12 to 18 and will feature a who’s who of women’s tennis. Among those confirmed for the Wuhan Open are defending champion and World No. 4 Coco Gauff, World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, World No. 9 Iga Swiatek, and World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva.
Needless to say, Alex Eala will have her hands full at the Wuhan Open, where she has hardly had any success in the two times she competed there. In 2024, an unknown Eala fell to Katerina Siniakova in the very first round. A year later, in 2025, she failed to make it to the main draw after losing to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in the qualifying round.
A lot has changed since then, and a more improved Alex Eala will be returning to Wuhan as part of the main draw, with hopes of a better showing this time around.
At Least Two More Tourneys for Alex Eala
After the Wuhan Open, the WTA will be holding seven more tournaments before the WTA Finals in November and the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs. As of this writing, it appears Alex Eala is set to compete in at least two of these tourneys—the Ningbo Open (WTA 500) and the Toray Pan Pacific Open (WTA 500).
At the moment, the Filipina ace is included in the player list of both events, with the Ningbo Open scheduled on October 19–25 and the Toray Pan Pacific Open on October 26 to November 1. Perhaps not coincidentally, the two tournaments are the only WTA 500 or higher events left for 2026, and deep runs in both could go a long way in making sure Eala stays in the top 20 in rankings by the end of the year.
Notably, Alex Eala won’t be competing in the WTA Finals, the season‑ending championship for the top women’s tennis players (singles and doubles) for the year. This tournament features the eight best‑qualified players only, with seven slots allotted for the top seven at the time of the competition and the eighth spot reserved for the highest‑ranked current‑year Grand Slam winner who is ranked 8th–20th. Unfortunately for Eala, she won’t meet either qualification.
