What's next for Alex Eala after the Pan Pacific Open?

GMA Network - Oct 31, 2026

As the curtains fall on her Pan Pacific Open campaign, Alexandra Eala now turns her attention to the remaining challenges on her calendar in hopes to put a strong finish to her 2026 season.

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Eala eyes strong finish in 2026 season at Hong Kong Open
Oct 31, 2026

Eala eyes strong finish in 2026 season at Hong Kong Open

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine tennis trailblazer Alex Eala seeks a strong finish to her 2026 season at the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open in China. Following a breakthrough quarterfinal finish at the 500 Tokyo Open in Japan, Eala flies to Hong Kong for its tournament which will run from November 2 to 8. World No. 19 Eala fell to No. 13 Diana Shnaider in a hard-fought Tokyo Open quarterfinal, 6-2, 6(5)-7, 4-6, on Friday. Eala has been having a historic season with a fourth-round finish at Wimbledon last July, a maiden WTA title at D.C Open last August and a career-high rank No. 18 first achieved in the same month. The 21-year-old has been not as sharp this Asian Swing, though, with a 3-win and 4-loss record. Those losses including upsets at the hands of world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova at Singapore Open and No. 217 Shi Han at Wuhan. Eala regained some of her mojo in Tokyo with a breakthrough quarterfinal appearance in all of her Asian Swing campaign. Battling Shnaider for nearly three hours, Eala lost steam and fell to the Russian anew after yielding to the latter in Ningbo second round last week. At the 250-tier Hong Kong Open, Eala is seeded No. 3 and one of the favorites to win it all after No. 1 seed Shnaider and No. 2 seed and world No. 16 Sorana Cirstea. Completing the top 8 seeds are world No. 23 Leylah Fernandez, No. 30 Maria Sakkari, No. 35 Jasmine Paolini, No. 38 Talia Gibson, and No. 39 Wang Xinyu. Last year, Eala reached the second round of the Hong Kong Open. She walked over at 6-4, 2-1 against Katie Boulter who retired due to an injury in their first-round clash before succumbing to Victoria Mboko in the second, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.

Reigning champs chase history in New York Marathon
Oct 30, 2026

Reigning champs chase history in New York Marathon

NEW YORK, United States — Defending champions Benson Kipruto and Hellen Obiri of Kenya will chase history and back-to-back titles in Sunday's New York Marathon. About 60,000 runners from 140 nations are expected to compete over 26.2 miles (42.16km) through the five boroughs of New York. Kipruto won the closest New York men's marathon in history last year, edging compatriot Alex Mutiso by three-hundredths of a second after both crossed the finish line in 2:08:09. The 36-year-old Kenyan will try to become the first back-to-back New York men's winner since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya in 2013. Kipruto also won the 2021 Boston Marathon, 2022 Chicago Marathon and 2024 Tokyo Marathon titles and took third at the 2024 Paris Olympic marathon and this year's Boston Marathon. Ethiopia's Deresa Geleta, sixth in this year's London Marathon, makes his North America marathon debut on the streets of New York. There is also excitement about the marathon debut of 31-year-old Swede Andreas Almgren, who set a European half-marathon record of 58:06 last month at Copenhagen. "I haven't felt nervous yet. Right now it's just excitement," Almgren said. "I don't know that I've ever been so excited for a race." The data analyst also posted on social media: "I"m not saying good bye to track racing. I'm just saying hello to marathons." Obiri, 36, is well-acquainted with the distance. She won the Boston Marathon in 2023 and 2024 and New York Marathon in 2023 and 2025 as well as taking a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon. Obiri took her second New York City Half-Marathon title earlier this year, winning in a course-record 1:06:33. She was this year's London Marathon runner-up, finishing 12 seconds off the women-only marathon world record of 2:15:41 set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa. Obiri will try to become only the fourth woman to win a third career New York title after Norway's Grete Waitz, Kenya's Mary Keitany and Britain's Paula Radcliffe. Obiri seeks her third crown in four years after setting a course record of 2:19:51 last year. She would be the first New York repeat women's winner since Keitany won from 2014-16. Clear conditions and perfect running temperatures are expected for the 50th edition of the race since it switched to a course that includes each of the city's five boroughs, heralding the modern edition of the event.