Alex Eala: Fans make me "feel at home"

Alex Eala looks forward to a warm welcome from fans as her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships debut awaits.

The Filipino star will discover her opening-round opponent in Dubai after this weekend’s action, having been drawn against a qualifier for her first match.

She was joined by Iva Jovic and Zeynep Sonmez at the official draw for the Championships which runs from February 15-21.

Eala experiences a unique kind of support in the UAE especially, fueled by the region’s large Filipino expatriate community.

Asked about competing in front of the Dubai crowd for the first time, the 20-year-old made it clear she’s going to relish the opportunity.

Talking on the support, she said: “It means a lot, it makes me feel at home even though I’m traveling so many weeks of the year.

“I think this feeling is reciprocated for a lot of the Filipino’s who are out here, I know there’s a huge population of them here in the Middle East. I think it means a lot for people to see themselves in other people and that’s what makes this so special.”

Eala started her 2026 schedule at the Abu Dhabi Open, highlighted by a remarkable comeback victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

After opening her campaign with a straight-sets win against Zeynep Sonmez, the Filipina faced Sasnovich in the Round of 16 and was set for defeat after dropping the first set 2–6 and falling 4–0 behind in the decider. Sasnovich even held match point, but Eala showed tremendous resilience, battling back to level the set and eventually sealing a dramatic 7–5 win in the deciding tiebreak to reach the quarter-finals.

Her impressive run ended there, however, as she was beaten 6–3, 6–3 by second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. Despite the quarter-final exit, Eala’s fighting display in Abu Dhabi underlined her growing confidence and competitiveness on the WTA Tour.

She heads into Dubai fresh off the back of the WTA 1000 event in Qatar, although her run was short-lived. Despite coming in on the back of a career-high ranking and growing confidence from her strong showing in Abu Dhabi. After entering the tournament’s main draw, she faced Czech player, Tereza Valentova in the first round. Eala put up a competitive fight in the opening set, which went to a close tiebreak, but ultimately lost 7-6(6), 6-1, bringing her Qatar campaign to an end in the opening round.

Eala will now turn her focus to her next challenge in Dubai aiming to bounce back and continue her rise on the tour.