Alex Eala joins Sabalenka, Gauff in stacked Dubai Open main draw

February 15 ------ Alex Eala is all set to make her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship debut, joining a stacked field headlined by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Eala's Australian Open tormentor, Elena Rybakina. World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who Eala beat in a breakthrough run to the Miami Open semifinals last March, along with Coco Gauff and reigning champion Mirra Andreeva are also in the main draw.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will run from February 15 to 21. The tournament marks Eala’s sixth of the 2026 calendar, following her semifinal run in Auckland and appearances at the Australian Open, WTA125 Manila, Abu Dhabi Open, and the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, where she bowed out in the opening round after a straight-sets loss to Czech teenager Tereza Valentova.

Dubai will also Eala’s second WTA 1000-level event of the year after Doha. In latest WTA rankings update, the Filipina climbed five spots to a career-high world no. 40.

Source: spin.ph