Who is Aliaksandra Sasnovich? Alex Eala’s Round of 16 opponent at Abu Dhabi Open

Alexandra "Alex" Eala opened her Abu Dhabi Open campaign in a winning fashion, pulling off a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Zeynep Sonmez of Turkiye in the opening round early Tuesday (Manila time). 

The Filipina star will now test her mettle against a veteran in Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the Round of 16. 

The 20-year-old Eala and 31-year-old Sasnovich have never met on the court before, making their Abu Dhabi Open clash the first time they will slug it out on the court. 

Sasnovich is currently ranked no. 109 in the WTA rankings and posted a career-high no. 29 in September 2022. 

She is coming off a stint at the recently-concluded Australian Open, where she hurdled three opponents in the qualifiers to enter the main draw. Sasnovich first defeated Ksenia Efremova before escaping Kathinka Von Deichmann and Daria Snigur to book a ticket to the main event. 

Sasnovich, though, absorbed a 6-1, 6-2 loss to world no. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the Round of 128 to exit the Grand Slam event. 

Sasnovich has yet to win a WTA singles title, but she had already seized 11 titles in the ITF circuit. 

Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Open include Elena Rybakina, who recently stunned world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to rule the 2026 Australian Open. 

—JMB, GMA Integrated News