From Dream to Draw Sheet: The WTA Comes to Manila

When the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced Manila as the host of the Philippine Women’s Open 2026, it marked something that generations of Filipino tennis fans once only dreamed about: a professional WTA tournament on Philippine soil.

Slated for January 26 to 31, 2026, the event is officially part of the WTA 125 calendar, a tier of professional tournaments recognized globally as a crucial bridge between the ITF circuit and the main WTA Tour. For many rising players, this level represents the final proving ground before full-time life on the sport’s biggest stages.

According to the WTA’s official tournament listing, the Philippine Women’s Open 2026 will take place in Manila, Philippines, played on outdoor hard courts, with a 32-player singles draw and 16 teams in doubles, and a total prize purse of $115,000 (approximately ₱6.7 million).

This is more than a calendar listing. It is a milestone: the first time the Philippines will host a sanctioned WTA event. The move elevates the country’s standing in global tennis and reflects years of groundwork by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA), in coordination with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), to bring elite international competition to local courts.

The tournament arrives at a moment when Philippine tennis is riding rare momentum, driven in no small part by the rise of Alex Eala. In 2025, Eala made history as the first Filipino to win a WTA 125 title, capturing the Guadalajara Open in Mexico and cementing her place as the country’s most accomplished player in the professional era.

While her participation in the Philippine Women’s Open 2026 is not yet guaranteed, due in part to scheduling overlaps with the Australian Open, Eala has publicly welcomed the announcement, calling the event a dream come true for Philippine tennis and a meaningful step forward for the sport at home.

For local fans, the significance of hosting this event cannot be overstated.

Beyond showcasing world-class tennis in the capital, the tournament opens rare opportunities for Filipino players to compete for valuable ranking points on home soil, something largely unavailable in Southeast Asia. The WTA 125 level sits just below the main tour, offering a realistic pathway toward major events such as the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, where ranking points, prize money, and global visibility increase dramatically.

The choice of the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center as the tournament venue, reportedly undergoing upgrades to meet WTA standards, underscores a renewed focus on tennis infrastructure and high-performance facilities. For a site steeped in Philippine sporting history, the event represents both renewal and reinvention.

Officials have emphasized that the Philippine Women’s Open is not intended as a one-off spectacle. PHILTA leadership has framed it as a long-term investment, one meant to inspire the next generation, strengthen the local tennis ecosystem, and place the Philippines firmly on the global tennis map by giving homegrown athletes the chance to test themselves against international competition.

With the Philippine Women’s Open 2026 now officially on the world tennis calendar, January promises more than the start of a new season. It signals a new chapter for Philippine tennis, one where local aspiration and global competition finally meet on the same court.