Filipina tennis star Alex Eala at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. POC Media
Filipina tennis star Alex Eala will open her 2026 season on the WTA Tour with a first-round clash against Donna Vekić in the main draw of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Croatian Vekić is ranked 69th in the world.
The schedule of the match has yet to be announced by the WTA, as the qualifiers are still on-going. The tournament will run from January 5-11.
The match marks the first-ever meeting between Eala and Vekić on the WTA Pro Tour. Vekić, 29, was once ranked as high as 17th by the WTA and owns four singles titles on the Tour.
Eala, for her part, enters as the No. 4 seed in the Auckland event.
Headlining the tournament is top seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, currently ranked No. 14 in the world. American Emma Navarro follows as the second seed (No. 15), while Iva Jovic (No. 35) rounds out the top three seeds.