{"id":68342,"date":"2026-02-16T13:50:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/?p=68342"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:50:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:50:33","slug":"filipino-community-rallies-as-home-favourites-advance-at-dubai-duty-free-tennis-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/filipino-community-rallies-as-home-favourites-advance-at-dubai-duty-free-tennis-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Filipino Community Rallies As \u2018Home\u2019 Favourites Advance At Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

After weeks of city-wide hype and dramatic build-up, women\u2019s week at the Dubai<\/a> Duty Free Tennis Championship burst into life on opening day as two \u2018home\u2019 favourites progressed to the second-round of the WTA 1000 event despite wildly contrasting experiences on Centre Court insidethe Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.<\/p>\n

With two players much-loved by Dubai\u2019s passionate Filipino community attracting a near-capacity crowd on Sunday evening, rising star Alexandra Eala \u2013 still only 20-years-old and already the highest-ranked Filipino in WTA history at World No40 \u2013 lined up against powerful American Hailey Baptiste, the World No39.<\/p>\n

Baptiste, having qualified for the match as a Lucky Loser after falling to Slovakia\u2019s Rebecca Sramkova in Saturday\u2019s final qualifiers, she nonetheless cut an imposing figure when compared to the diminutive Eala, who is four years her junior and making her Dubai debut.<\/p>\n

Yet with every corner of Centre Court transformed into the red, white, and blue of the Philippines flag, Eala immediately tapped into the stadium\u2019s energy with an array of crowd-pleasing winners as she railed against Baptiste\u2019s power advantage. After trading breaks early on, Ealabuzzed around court inspired by an electric crowd and stole the momentum with a break of serve before nervelessly holding to seal the set 6-4.<\/p>\n

Bapiste valiantly held serve inthe opening gameofthe second set before Elea suddenly foundherself flunginto the second-round \u2013 she will face World No8 and sixth seed in Dubai – after the stricken Americanretired with a left abdominal injury. An expectant crowd was stunned and fell silent, but noise levels soared back to deafening as the victor addressed Centre Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo-one likes advancing in this way,\u201d she said.\u201cBeing on Tour, I am starting to discover how difficult it is to maintain your health physically. I\u2019m really hoping that Hailey will bounce back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning her attention and affections to her adoring fans, Eala added: \u201cI\u2019m super happy to be in the next round. This tournament is serving up such great experiences for me, especially playing in front of the best crowd ever. Hello everyone, hello Kabayans! I\u2019m very happy to advance to the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the afternoon, Canada\u2019s Leylah Fernandez, the World No27, and Russia\u2019s Liudmila Samsonova, ranked 10 places higher at World No17, played out an epic three-set showdown that lasted close to three hours.<\/p>\n

After a tense first set in which Samsonova eventually prevailed 7-5, Fernandez \u2013 who boasts Filipino heritage \u2013 battled back in a knife-edge second set. The 23-year-old unleashed a series of immaculate winners to sail into a 5-2 lead, before a resurgent Samsonova won three consecutive games to wrestle back momentum and level the set at 5-5. The Russian\u2019s mini comeback flattered to deceive however, as Fernandez held her serve and then immediately broke serve to clinch the set 7-5 and force a deciding set.<\/p>\n

With Fernandez moving into a 2-0 lead in the early throes of the third set, Samsonova suddenly found herself holding two break points and a chance to regain her match footing. Fernandez, buoyed by a partisan crowd that revelled in celebrating her Filipino descent, dug deep. Occasionally scurrying and battling to stay in points, she produced winners under pressure and benefited hugely as Samsonova\u2019s unforced errors tallied up.<\/p>\n

Brimming with confidence now, Fernandez surged into a seemingly unassailable 5-0 lead in the third set, only for never-say-die Samsonova to hit back with three quick games in a row. Serving for the match for a second time, Fernandez \u2013 who represents Canada \u2013 regained her composure to hold serve and eliminate the 13th<\/sup>\u00a0seed.<\/p>\n

After signing dozens of autographs on caps, T-shirts, balls, souvenir programmes, and anything frenzied fans could find for a signature, Fernandez was quick to acknowledge the acclaim she received from crowds on Centre Court and all around the tournament\u2019s Tennis Village.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely felt different tonight,\u201d said the World No27. \u201cI remember the past couple of years I\u2019ve played day matches, sometimes first on, so there wasn\u2019t a lot of fans. Today, there were a lot more and to see so many fans come watch women\u2019s tennis means a lot, it shows the sport is growing, so I\u2019m very happy.”<\/p>\n

When asked if she feels a type of \u2018home\u2019 advantage in Dubai, she added: \u201cYeah, actually \u2013 kind of. It does feel nice because you kind of feel at home. It helps a lot. Sometimes when you\u2019re travelling so much you forget why you play tennis and fans always help you to remember. To feel that warmth, that love, and the passion that they have is a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final match of the night under the bright lights of Centre Court sawthe Czech Republic\u2019s Sara Bejlek, ranked No38 in the world, require only 75 minutes to record a 6-2, 6-2 dismantling of Turkey\u2019s Zeynep Sonmez.<\/p>\n

Among a host of top-ranked seeds and former Dubai winners playing on Monday, Great Britain\u2019s Emma Raducanu \u2013 another massive Dubai favourite \u2013 will face a first-round tie against Italian qualifier ElisabettaCocciaretto on Court Two at 3pm.<\/p>\n

The 26th<\/sup> edition of the annual WTA event, which takes place from February 15 to 21, features 16 of the top 20 ranked female players in the world and 33 of the top 40.\u00a0The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It will be followed by the emirate\u2019s annual ATP 500 men\u2019s tournament from February 23 to 28.<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale now for the 2026 Championships, with prices starting from Dh65. For full details, visit\u00a0dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com<\/a> or\u00a0ticketmaster.ae<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After weeks of city-wide hype and dramatic build-up, women\u2019s week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship burst into life on opening day as two \u2018home\u2019 favourites progressed to the second-round of the WTA 1000 event despite wildly contrasting experiences on Centre Court insidethe Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. With two players much-loved by Dubai\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68344,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68342\/revisions\/68344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}