FILIPINO tennis sensation Alex Eala will represent the Philippines at the 20th Asian Games in Japan regardless of the outcome of a pending waiver request to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) executive director Tonette Mendoza said.
“Alex will definitely play at the Asian Games regardless of the WTA decision,” Mendoza said in a statement posted on the national sports association Facebook page.
Eala, currently ranked World No. 18 — the highest ever for a Filipino player — is set to lead the Philippine tennis delegation to Aichi-Nagoya along with veteran Francis Casey Alcantara, according to reports.
She is expected to be one of the country’s top gold medal hopes after winning two bronze medals in women’s singles and mixed doubles at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
To compete in the Asiad, Eala will have to skip the China Open, a mandatory WTA 1000 event in Beijing that overlaps with the Asian Games schedule.
Philta said it has formally asked the WTA not to penalize Eala for choosing to represent the country.
“We have formally informed the WTA that Alex will be representing the Philippines at the Asian Games and have requested an exemption so she will not be penalized for missing a WTA 1000 event,” Philta secretary general John Rey Tiangco said in an earlier statement.
Mendoza reiterated Monday, Sept. 15, 2026, that the WTA has yet to respond to the request.
“We have not received any word,” Mendoza said.
Under WTA rules, players who skip a mandatory 1000 event without an approved exemption risk a fine and receiving a zero-pointer in the rankings.
Reports vary on the penalty, with some pegging it at $10,000 and loss of ranking points, while other reports placed it as high as $75,000.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has assured “all-out support” for Eala as she faces possible sanctions for prioritizing national duty.
Addressing reports comparing Eala’s situation to that of Indonesia’s Janice Tjen — who announced she was denied an exemption and opted to withdraw from the Asian Games to play in Beijing — Mendoza said the circumstances
are different.
“We don’t know the circumstances of Janice,” Mendoza said. Tjen, ranked World No. 35, withdrew from the Asiad after the WTA rejected her exemption appeal.
The 20th Asian Games will run from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. The tennis tournament will be held from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Aichi Prefecture. / LBG
