Philippine tennis has earned a major boost as the country will host two WTA events in 2026 with Alex Eala’s massive appeal resulting in the Southeast Asian nation snapping up a WTA 250 tournament.
Since making her breakthrough at the 2025 Miami Open, Eala has become one of the most popular players on the WTA Tour with Filipino fans filling stadiums – whether it is in North America, Asia or Europe – whenever she plays.
It usually means Eala gets top billing with most of her matches scheduled on the main courts as tournament organisers take advantage of the opportunity to sell more tickets.
The 21-year-old’s rise, though, has also given tennis in the Philippines a big shot in the arm with the sport’s popularity skyrocketing while the WTA has seen an increase in ticket sales and social media activity when the youngster is in action.
And now, both parties have decided to strike while the iron is hot as the Philippines will stage a WTA 250 event in 2027.
Alex Eala News
The country hosted a WTA 125K tournament for the first time in 2026 as the Philippine Women’s Open was staged at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila at the end of January with Eala the star attraction.
The WTA 125 event will return next year as it will once again take place after the Australian Open while the WTA 250 tournament will take place in November.
In a social media post, the Philippines Tennis Association [PHILTA] wrote: “Big things are ahead for Philippine tennis in 2027!
“The Philippines will welcome world-class women’s tennis with a WTA 125 tournament in January 2027, followed by a WTA 250 tournament in November 2027.”
According to reports, PHILTA has managed to secure the WTA 250 license from the Chennai Open as the Indian tournament – which will take place for one final time in 2-8 November this year – will relocate to Minala next year.
“We’re happy to announce and confirm late last night we threshed out some details with our franchise holder of WTA 250. We’re going to have WTA 250 next year, 2027, late October, early November,” PHILTA Secretary General Tiangco said.
Board member and former WTA player Dyan Castillejo added: “So even now, we’d like to invite all the international players, hopefully to put the Philippines in your calendar. The Philippines is very excited to be hosting you again.”
To avoid confusion, Tiangco said: “To clarify, we won’t be replacing the 125. We will still have the WTA 125 in January.
Castillejo continued: “We’re having a WTA 125 still in January, the second week of the Australian Open. And then we’re going to have a 250 end of October, first week of November.”
There is no doubt that Eala will feature at her home event next November, but she could be joined by some other big-name players.
