Following initial Australian Open results, a good majority of the main draw players listed for the historic Philippine Women’s Open are now open to play in Manila.
Four players in the preliminary list of the Philippine Women’s Open main draw remain in the running at the 2026 Australian Open, with the Philippines' first WTA 125 event starting the take proper shape as players clear their respective calendars.
The handful of players still competing at the Australian Open are Xinyu Wang, Moyuka Uchijima, Yulia Putintseva, and Polina Kudermetova. Their final participation in Manila should be determined on how far they make it in Melbourne.
As for the rest of the field, Australian Open results have paved the way for Manila for the Philippine Women's Open.
Ranked players like Paris 2024 Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic and WTA no. 42 Tatjana Maria are already out of the Australian Open singles tournament, clearing their path to the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
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Other main draw players in Kimberly Birrell, Leolia Jeanjean, Camila Osorio, Himeno Sakastume, Darja Semenistaja, Solana Sierra, Yuliia Starodubtseva, Lulu Sun, Lanlana Tararudee, Simona Waltert, Yue Yuan, and Veronika Erjavec have also exited the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhu, Nao Hibino, Sofia Costoulas, and Alina Charaeva played in the qualifiers and were subsequently eliminated before getting to the main draw.
Elina Avanesyan who did not play in Australia, giving the Philippine Women's Open 20 available players.
The big fish of course is Alex Eala.
While the Filipina ace has also ended her Australian Open stint, her participation remains up in the air as Eala also has a slot in the qualifying draw of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, which will coincide with the Philippine Women’s Open.
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The Abu Dhabi Open is a WTA 500 tournament whose main draw includes the likes of Paula Badosa, Belinda Bencic, and Leylah Fernandez.
According to the organizers of the Philippine Women’s Open, tickets for the tournament have been flying off the shelves, with the tickets for the last day — January 31 — already sold out.
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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.