Alex Eala will match up with Zeynep Sonmez to begin the Abu Dhabi Open, their first showdown since last year's Eastbourne Open.
The 2026 WTA Tour is now in full swing for Alex Eala.
After her quarterfinals run in the Philippine Women’s Open, Eala is set for the main draw of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open set to start on Sunday, February 1.
The Abu Dhabi Open is a WTA 500 joust, making it the second-biggest tournament of Eala’s young season so far.
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In the Round of 32, Eala will be matching up with Turkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez, who is the WTA world no. 112 entering the tournament.
Eala holds a 2-0 head-to-head record against Sonmez, with their recent showdown being in the qualifying round of the 2025 Eastbourne Open, which was also where the Filipina made her first WTA Finals appearance.
The rest of the Abu Dhabi draw is quite stacked with world no. 10 and defending champion Belinda Bencic leading the way.
Also on the draw are world no. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova, world no. 14 Claura Tauson, and world no. 15 Emma Navarro.
The other seeded participants are Liudmila Samsanova, Leyah Fernandez, Jelena Ostapenko, and Paula Badosa.