Paris 2024 Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic and world no. 43 Tatjana Maria are among the big names set to compete at the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open.
Star power will not be lacking when the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open rolls around at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center later this month, with Paris 2024 Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic and world no. 43 Tatjana Maria leading the preliminary list.
Vekic was Alex Eala's first singles opponent of the 2026 WTA season. The two engaged in a three-set thriller at the ASB Classic in Auckland, with Eala pulling through to advance to the second round.
[RELATED: Alex Eala bucks pain to win 3-set thriller over Donna Vekic at ASB Classic]
Currently ranked world no. 69, Vekic's career-high is no. 17 at the beginning of 2025, which came at the heels of a stellar 2024 season when she made the Olympic Finals and Wimbledon semis.
Vekic boasts four WTA titles and will hope to add the WTA 125 tournament to her list of accolades when competition unfurls from January 26 to 31.
Meanwhile, Maria has seen a resurgence in her career after becoming the oldest WTA 500 champion in the 2025 Queen’s Club Championships.
With four WTA titles, Maria also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2022 and has a career-best ranking of no. 36 achieve in July 2025.
The Philippine Sports Commission is looking forward to hosting Vekic and Maria along with the rest of the competitors as renovations continue to get underway at Rizal Memorial.
“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," said PSC Chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio.
Other ranked players in the competition include China’s Wang Xinyu, ranked no. 57, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva (71st), Camila Osorio (76th), Yue Yuan (83rd), Simona Waltert (88th), Lulu Sun (86th), Moyuka Uchijima (89th), and Kimberly Birrell (106th).
Rounding up the players are Elina Avaneysan, Alina Charaeva, Sofia Costoulas, Veronika Erjavec, Joanna Garland, Nao Hibino, Leolia Jeanjean, Polina Kudermetova, Himeno Sakatsume, Darja Semenistaja, Solana Sierra, Yuliia Starodubtseva, Lanlana Tararudee, and Lin Zhu.
Hometown favorite Eala and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen (WTA no. 54) have been given Wild Cards to compete in the tournament.
However, the Philippine Women’s Open will be coinciding with the Australian Open, where both hitters are expected to compete in the main draw.
Depending on their availability and the results of the Australian Open, Eala and Tjen might just meet in Manila.
The pair recently missed paths during the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, where Eala ended up winning gold while Tjen was booted out in the semifinals due to retirement (illness).
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.