Eala cruises to 2nd round

MANILA -- Filipino sensation Alexandra Eala moved to the second round after her opponent, American qualifier Hailey Baptiste, retired due to an injury in the WTA1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships early Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.

Eala took the first set, 6-4, and was trailing 0-1 in the second set when the World No. 45 Baptiste quit and received treatment.

Eala will next face sixth seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who had a first-round bye.

Kimberly Birrell of Australia, Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic, Magda Linette of Poland and Janice Tjen of Indonesia also won their respective matches.

Birrell defeated Tatjana Maria of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, to advance against top seed Elena Rybakina.

Krejcikova outplayed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 6-4, to forge a second-round duel with No. 2 Amanda Anisimova of USA.

Linette prevailed over Lulu Sun of New Zealand, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, to set up a meeting with No. 8 Ekaterina Alexandrova, a runner-up at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open two weeks ago.

Tjen conquered Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-4, 6-1, to advance against Leyla Fernandez of Canada, who ousted No. 13 Ludmila Samsonova, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Other first-round winners include No. 10 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, Elise Mertens of Belgium, Peyton Stearns of USA, Ella Seidel of Germany and Diana Shnaider of Russia. / PNA