Rising tennis star Alexandra Eala will return to the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The Filipino was ranked 53 in the world when she competed in Auckland this year making her way through to the semi-finals.
21-year-old Eala is now ranked inside the top 20 after winning her first WTA singles title this year in Washington DC and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.
She grabbed a number of major scalps in 2026 including wins over five players inside the world’s top 10.
They were world number one Elena Rybakina, number four Jessica Pegula, number five and two-time ASB Classic champion Coco Gauff, ASB Classic defending champion and world number six Elina Svitolina, and world number nine Iga Ĺwiatek.
Off the court, Eala has become one of the sport’s most recognisable players, with more than 2 million followers on Instagram and nearly 900,000 on Tik Tok.
“I loved my time in Auckland,” Eala said in a statement. “Of course, the support there was amazing, especially from the Filipino community.”
Svitolina will defend her title in January.