TWO rising stars in Southeast Asia, Alex Eala of the Philippines and Janice Tjen of Indonesia, are set to make their debut in the 2026 ASB Classic in Auckland.
Eala and Tjen, who represented their respective countries in the recent Southeast Asian Games, will compete next to Elina Svitolina and Emma Navarro, who are the top two seeds of the tournament.
The world no. 53 Eala, who just won a women’s singles’ gold medal for the Philippines in the SEA Games, has been seeded fourth in this WTA 250 event, which will begin on Jan. 5.
The world no. 56 Tjen got the fifth seeding in this meet, which was won in the past by Venus Williams, who is entered as a wild card, with Great Britain’s Katie Boulter.
Eala is preparing for the coming Australian Open and the presence of Williams, who won her 46 of 49 career titles in Auckland, will make the competition a challenging one for everyone.
The last time Williams was in the finals, she won over Caroline Wozniacki for the crown over a decade ago.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, is back after a 16-month layoff, after beating Peyton Stearns in Washington and taking Karolina Muchova to three sets at the US Open.
The field is composed the leading 92 players on the world rankings.
Svitolina, with a career high ranking of no 3 in the world, is tipped to reach the finals again.
She was runner-up at the ASB Classic in 2024 to Coco Gauff.
This will be Eala’s only official event before she heads to the Kooyong Classic exhibition and her main draw debut at the Australian Open, which will be open on January 18.
