WTA Chennai Open to be moved to Manila next year

The WTA 250 Chennai Open, the country’s only top-tier tennis tournament, will be held from November 2 to 8 at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam. However, next year, in the same slot, it will be replaced with a first-ever tour-level event in the Philippines as various stakeholders look to capitalise on the rapidly growing fanbase of the 21-year-old Alexandra Eala, currently ranked 18th in the world.

Along with the return of a WTA 125 event, held for the first time in the Philippines in January this season, a WTA 250 tournament will make its debut in Manila in late 2027 and is scheduled from November 1 to 7.

Chennai played host to a WTA 250 tournament for the first time in 2022 on a single-year license. The event was held last year in the city for the second time after being relocated from Mexico.

“That (Eala’s rise) is a factor and that makes the Philippines and Manila an appealing solution. To have a WTA footprint in the Philippines, that’s definitely an important contributing factor,” Alastair Garland, managing director of the tennis division of Octagon, the sports agency that holds the license for the event, told The Hindu.