Alexandra Eala is ready to return to competition for the first time since her hard-fought US Open third-round loss to Iva Jovic, and the next stretch of her season could lift her profile even further as she heads to Singapore.

The Filipina has built notable momentum over recent months. A run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July was followed by her first WTA Tour title in Washington, a sequence that has pushed her rapidly up the rankings and strengthened the sense that her career is moving into a new phase.

Her growing appeal has travelled well beyond results. In recent months, she has become one of the most discussed players on social media across tennis, with support from fans in the Philippines adding to her rise.

Eala now moves into a busy period. She is due to compete at the Singapore Open in the coming days before representing her country at the Asian Games. If she can go deep in Singapore, her ranking could edge close to a career high.

Her performances in Europe and America have already lifted her into the WTA top 20. A title in Singapore would move her up to No 14, and that would bring her long-term aim of a top-10 breakthrough a little nearer, especially with the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan next month also on the horizon.

As the No 3 seed, she has received a bye into the second round. Her opener will come against either world No 152 Sofia Costoulas or world No 178 Tatiana Prozorova, with Amanda Anisimova a possible opponent later and top seed Mirra Andreeva a potential final rival.

Even so, the season’s most striking moment may still be waiting for later in 2026. Eala is set for an exhibition match against Janice Tjen at the Philippine Arena in Manila on December 8th, where a crowd of 55,000 could turn the event into the biggest tennis attendance ever if the stadium is full.

She will be joined at the exhibition by Manny Pacquiao, Anne Curtis, Piolo Pascual, Julia Barretto, Donny Pangilinan, and Andrea Brillantes.

“Every time I play abroad, I carry the Philippines with me,” said Eala.

“To come home and play in front of our fans will be incredibly special.

“I want this to be a day where we celebrate our love for tennis, our culture and the young players who will take the sport forward.

“And if all of us come together, maybe we can make a little history too.”

Eala is still seeking her first Grand Slam title, but by the end of 2026 she could own the record for the most watched tennis match and further underline her place among the sport’s biggest names.

The latest Six Kings Slam is approaching, but doubts remain over whether the Saudi Arabian exhibition will be held as planned amid the region’s ongoing political crisis.

Jannik Sinner collected $6.5million for a second straight year after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in a dramatic final last year, and both players are again on the entry list for the 2026 edition. The event is scheduled for October 21, 22 and 24, with live coverage set for Netflix.

That schedule now sits against a difficult backdrop. Several major sporting events in the region have already been cancelled as military exchanges between the USA and Iran continue, while Formula 1 Grand Prix races have also been postponed or moved in recent months. With tensions having risen again in recent days, the Six Kings Slam is not immune from concern.

Sinner, Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur make up the line-up for the exhibition, and each player is guaranteed a significant appearance fee. The financial scale of the event is part of what has made it such a prominent fixture, but the decision on whether it proceeds may depend on the players’ willingness to travel.

That question may not be straightforward. Sinner and Alcaraz have spoken warmly about their Saudi hosts in recent years, yet any final call will likely be shaped by how the situation develops over the next couple of weeks.

Sinner arrives after following his 2025 US Open final defeat to Alcaraz by beating the Spaniard in last year’s Six Kings Slam decider, a result that preceded a strong finish to the season, including victory at the ATP Finals. Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be looking to continue his comeback in an event that could also feature Djokovic for the last time, after the Serbian hinted he may need to rethink his future plans following a first-round US Open defeat.

With the conflict showing no clear sign of resolution and settlement talks appearing to have stalled, any further escalation would put the event in even greater jeopardy.

Alexander Zverev has closed 2026 with a record that places him above every other man in Grand Slam titles this year, following his emphatic US Open success. Even so, the conversation around his achievements has not moved on cleanly, with some still eager to argue that circumstances have done much of the work for him.

For years, Zverev occupied the uncomfortable space of being the player who nearly arrived, only to be denied when the biggest matches came around. First it was Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who stood in the way. More recently, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have done the same.

That long wait finally ended when he won the French Open in June, and he followed it by lifting the US Open title earlier this month. Those victories confirmed his place among the elite, yet criticism quickly settled on the fact that he beat only one top-10 player across those two major runs, with No 9 seed Ben Shelton falling in the US Open final.

It is clear that injuries to Alcaraz and Sinner have shaped the landscape in 2026, but Boris Becker has firmly rejected the idea that this alone explains Zverev’s success. Speaking on his podcast with Andrea Petkovic, Becker said: “I thought it was a bit of a shame after that then again the critics came saying, ‘Yeah, he only won because Alcaraz and Sinner didn’t play, or Alcaraz did play and Sinner was injured.’

“Or ‘He had an easy draw.’ So first, point one: it’s not his fault if Sinner gets injured before. It’s not his fault if Alcaraz spent four months injured, and thankfully, is back again, and in the quarters against Shelton, loses.

“It’s not his fault if his seeds in that half all lose early. He can only beat the opponent he has to face on the court. I actually find that an absolute disgrace. Incredible disrespect toward his performance.

“If that were a one-off fluke, okay. He’s in the final for a third Grand Slam in a row. Actually, he should in Melbourne – where he served for the match against Alcaraz in the semi – also been in the final. This guy could have been in the final of all four Slams this year.

“He was in three, he is the current Roland Garros champion, Wimbledon finalist. Now people have to finally – in the Autumn of his career – pay him the respect he deserves.

“I’m not wearing a German cap here. I see it as an athlete, as a tennis player. You have to show players respect who simply deliver their performance, and so that is why I’m very happy that Sascha won.”

Zverev’s latest triumph has not silenced everyone. John McEnroe drew attention by calling for Alcaraz and Sinner to return immediately after the US Open final, while other voices questioned whether Zverev had been fortunate not to face either player. Social media reaction, and commentary from around the sport, has often followed the same line.

Zverev himself has acknowledged that Sinner remains the man to beat when fully fit. Yet the resistance to fully embracing his 2026 season says as much about his standing off court as it does about his results on it. The allegations he has previously denied also continue to be raised by detractors.

Whatever the reception, the new US Open champion has completed a season that delivered the major breakthrough he had spent years chasing.