Philippine Tennis Academy (PTA) players Tennielle Madis and Stefi Marithe Aludo are joining the playoff for wild cards in the WTA 125 Philippine Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Jan. 12 to 15.
The two debuted at the Thailand Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in December, winning the doubles and team bronze medals.
Renovations at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center are expected to be finished on Jan. 10.
Court 2 has been transformed into a Center Court with bleachers that can accommodate 2,000 people. Courts 4 and 6 will also be used for competition, while the Dacudao covered court and Court 5 are for practice.
The WTA 125 Philippine Open qualifying round is on Jan. 24 to 25, while the main draw is on Jan. 26 to 30. Matches will start from 2 p.m. onwards.
Former world No. 2 and Paris Olympic silver medalist Donna Krevic of Croatia heads the provisional list of entries.
The 29-year-old Krevic, a semifinalist at the 2024 French Open, is currently No. 69 on the WTA rankings.
Also competing is World No. 45 Tatjana Maria of Germany. The 38-year-old won at the Queen Club Championships in June last year for her fourth WTA crown.
Other entries are China’s Xinxu Wang (No. 57), Kazakhstan’s Yulina Putintseva (No. 71), Colombia’s Camila Osorio (No. 77), China’s Yue Yuan (No. 83), Switzerland’s Simona Waltert (No. 87), New Zealand’s Lulu Sun (No. 90), Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima (No. 94), and Australia’s Kimberly Berrell (No. 98).
Meanwhile, SEA Games gold medalist and World No. 53 Alex Eala and Indonesian Janice Tjien (No. 56) have signed up for the WTA 125 Philippine Open, but their participation is unsure as both are in the main draw of the Australian Open scheduled at the Melbourne Park hardcourts in Australia on Jan. 18 to Feb. 1. (PNA)
