These Top 100 players lead inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women's Open field

The inaugural WTA 125 Philippine Women's Open will feature a star-studded field as 11 of the WTA's Top 100 players are set to see action as the country hosts the prestigious tournament. 

Hometown bet Alex Eala was a given a wildcard slot, should her schedule permit her participation. The Filipina ace is slated to compete in the Australian Open main draw, which coincides with the dates of the Philippine Open.

Bannering the field is world no. 43 Wang Xinyu of China, a familiar face to Filipino tennis fans as she dealt a 7-5, 5-7, 4-6 loss to Eala during their semifinals bout in the 2026 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand last week.

Wang, who snagged a silver medal in the Paris Olympics mixed doubles event, eventually lost to top-seeded Elina Svitolina but jumped 14 places higher in the WTA rankings. 

Also listed is the world no. 42, 38-year-old Tatjana Maria of Germany, who once reached the semifinals Roland Garros back in 2022 and is a one-time Olympian. 

Another familiar face to Filipino fans in world no. 70 Donna Vekic has also been included in the roster. The Croatian Olympian bowed to Eala during the ASB Classic round of 32 while the two are also set to face off anew in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Australia.

No. 85 Lulu Sun of New Zealand, another former opponent of Eala, will also be part of the tournament. Sun defeated Eala in the semifinals of the Jingshan Tennis Open in China last September.

No. 64 Solana Sierra, no. 82 Camila Osorio of Colombia, no. 84 Yue Yuan of China, no. 86 Simona Waltert of Switzerland, no. 87 Moyuka Uchijima of Japan, no. 96 Darja Semenistaja of Latvia, and no. 99 Veronika Erjavek are also part of the initial list of players to grace the breakthrough WTA 125 event on Philippine soil. 

Completing the list are Elina Avanesyan, Kimberly Birrell, Alina Charaeva, Sofia Costoulas, Joanna Garland, Nao Hibino, Leolia Jeanjean, Polina Kudermetova, Yulia Putintseva, Himeno Sakatsume, Yuliia Starodubtseva, Lanlana Tararudee, and Lin Zhu. 

—JMB, GMA Integrated News