Just like Alex Eala, Thailand's Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew helped put Southeast Asian tennis on the map with their recent performances.
Southeast Asia is slowly becoming a hub for WTA talent, with four representatives to the main draw of the 2026 Australian Open, including the Philippines’ own Alex Eala and Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
With Eala and the two Thais also seeing action in the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open, it only serves to reinforce the region's slow rise in current tennis landscape.
Both Tararudee and Sawangkaew were victorious in their respective Manila openers, and coupled with the own exploits of Indonesia's Janice Tjen, the development of SEA tennis is a source of pride for the two Thai players.
“It just feels amazing because when I played in the Australian Open, so many Thai people came to watch my match, and also Mananchaya’s also so, just happy… Janice and Alex are also my good friends, I’m happy for [us],” said
Tararudee after beating the higher-ranked Simona Waltert in the Round of 32.
“I feel proud of us, myself and everyone also that can get in the Grand Slam together and yeah it's nice to see Southeast Asia in the Grand Slam and big tournament together,” added Sawangkaew.
Small, but terrible
Zooming in on Manila's WTA 125 tournament, other lesser known talents also got the chance to prove their mettle — including Filipino bet Tennielle Madis, who went toe-to-toe with Sawangkaew.
[RELATED: Thailand's Mananchaya praises Tennielle Madis after Philippine Women’s Open match]
After winning over Madis, Sawangkaew had words of encouragement for other SEA players, especially those from Thailand and the Philippines who are particularly disadvantaged in tennis due to their physique.
“I don't think it's [a] problem for the small size [of players from Southeast Asia] because I'm gonna hear a lot of people say like [when you’re] small you cannot be like, serve not gonna be good… It's not easy to play with a small size but I think you can change [your] small size to be faster and then it's not gonna be problem,” Sawangkaew said.
“Trust in yourself because like I'm very small also in a tournament but… I love tennis, I want to enjoy, I want to reach out to my dream and I just like fight for it even I have [a] small size,” she added.
As it stands, the Thais join hometown favorite Eala as the three remaining Southeast Asians in the running for women’s singles as the Philippine Women’s Open.
Tararudee faces Polina Kudermetova in the Round of 16, while Sawangkaew battles Zhu Lin.
Eala, for her part, battles Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume in the evening session at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
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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.