Alex Eala begins her final tournament of the year at Hong Kong Open

Alex Eala is set to wrap up her 2026 campaign at the Hong Kong Open, where the Filipina tennis star looks to cap a breakthrough season on a high note.

The 21-year-old Philippine ace, the second-seeded player in the WTA250 event, will face a familiar face in Alycia Parks of the USA in the Round of 32 as she seeks to end a string of early exits in the Asian Swing.

The Filipina and the American are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head record. The world No. 65 Parks got the better of the No. 17 Eala in their first meeting, pulling off a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win in the Australian Open first round last January.

Eala then got back at Parks in the WTA1000 Canadian Open after eking out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win in the Round of 64.

The Hong Kong Open will serve as Eala's final WTA event of the year, capping an eventful season that saw the Filipina enjoy major career milestones before encountering struggles in its closing stretch.

She captured her major WTA title in the Mubadala DC Open, where she ousted several top names in tennis, before becoming the first-ever Filipino to reach the third round of the US Open.

But Eala suffered setbacks following that, absorbing early exits and losses to lower-ranked opponents in the Singapore Open, Wuhan Open, Ningbo Open, and the Pan Pacific Open.

Alex Eala's Season recap (singles)

Asian swing

• Pan Pacific Open — Quarterfinals
• Ningbo Open — Round of 16
• Wuhan Open — Round of 64
• Singapore Tennis Open — Round of 16

North American swing

• US Open — Round of 32
• Cincinnati Open — Round of 32
• Canadian Open — Round of 16
• DC Open — Champion

Grass-court swing

• Wimbledon (Grand Slam) — Round of 16
• Bad Homburg Open (WTA 500) — Round of 32
• Berlin Tennis Open (WTA 500) — Semifinals
• HSBC Championships (WTA 500) — Round of 16
• Birmingham Open (WTA 125) — Champion

Clay-court swing

• French Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
• Italian Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 32
• Madrid Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
• Stuttgart Open (WTA 500) — Round of 32
• Linz Open (WTA 500) — Round of 16

Sunshine Swing

• Miami Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16
• Indian Wells Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 16

Middle East Swing

• Dubai Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) — Quarterfinals
• Qatar Open (WTA 1000) — Round of 64
• Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) — Quarterfinals

Philippine Women’s Open (WTA 125) — Quarterfinals

Australian Swing

• Australian Open (Grand Slam) — Round of 128
• ASB Classic (WTA 250) — Semifinals

—JMB, GMA News