MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala is unlikely to get an exemption from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to skip the mandatory 1000 China Open for the Asian Games in Nagoya.
This is after Eala's fellow Southeast Asian player and world No. 36 Janice Tjen of Indonesia announced that the WTA denied her exemption request.
The Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) asked for the same exemption for world No. 18 Eala, but there's no word yet if the WTA granted or denied the request as of writing.
"After a lot of consideration, I've had to make the difficult decision that I won't be able to compete at the Asian Games this year which take place at the same time as the mandatory WTA 1000 event in Beijing," said Tjen in an Instagram post Friday night.
"We have received confirmation from the WTA that unfortunately, I have not been granted an exemption to compete at the Asian Games."
Eala and Tjen are contractually obliged to compete in all WTA 1000 events like the China Open, which September 30 to October 11 schedule runs smack into the Asian Games' September 27 to October 3 play.
Skipping the tournaments without an exemption—usually granted for players dealing with injuries or personal matters—will result in a zero-point penalty for 52 weeks and a fine reportedly of $10,000 or P626,000.
Willing to suffer the penalties, Eala said she loves to play for the Philippines in international tournaments like the quadrennial Asian Games.
Eala will also qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics if she wins the Asiad gold.
In the 2023 edition of the continental meet in Hangzhou, Eala claimed a bronze medal after falling to eventual champ Zheng Qinwen of China in the semifinals.
Qinwen, who went on to win the 2024 Paris Olympics gold, will reportedly skip this year's Asiad alongside fellow Chinese player Wang Xinyu.
Before the Asian Games, Eala will compete at the WTA 500 Singapore Open slated from September 21 to 27.
