The Singapore Tennis Open, when Revelations and Champions Collide
Published On 11 Sep 2026
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All the stars will collide at the Singapore Tennis Open (21-27 Sept)!
The established ones and the ones wanting to take their spot. In what’s gearing up to be a week of high-level entertainment at the OCBC Arena, some of the biggest movers and shakers of the 2026 season will fight for the title in the event’s return to The Kallang as a WTA500.
The Singapore Tennis Open presented by BNP Paribas will indeed bring together the revelations of the year, with Alexandra Eala, Maja Chwalinska and Sara Bejlek, and some of the pillars of the WTA, with Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova and Barbora Krejcikova. Blockbusters only, please.
Alexandra Eala during the Cincinnati Open 2026.
Among these fresh faces, all left-handers, Eala has not only stolen the most shows this year but also comes back to Singapore with special ties to the city. The 21-year-old had her first breakthrough here when she competed in the Future Stars event both in 2016 and 2017, winning the Li Na Inspiration Award. Now a Top 20 player, she will live a full-circle moment when setting foot in the arena in the last stretch of a season that saw her enter tennis history. Eala became the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour-level singles title (Washington) on the heels of becoming the first of her country to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. Followed by millions of fans back home and thousands on the road, Eala has turned into a phenomenon in 2026.
“One thing that I've had to get used to is that basically everything I do is kind of under the public eye,” she told the press ahead of the US Open. “So all the training sessions are accessible to the public. It's not that I don't have privacy, but it's a little bit less now and something I've had to get used to. (...) At the forefront of everything is gratitude: I’m very grateful for the support that my fans give me and that my supporters give me.”
Not the tallest player out there, Eala makes the difference by her speed, quick hands, and how early she can take the ball to turn a point around. This one can really put on a show, and her confidence keeps growing. “I have experienced so much growth in the past year, and so many milestones in my career. (...) I've gotten to work closely with so many amazing tennis players. I've gotten to experience more of their work ethic, being in this environment a lot more. I've gotten to compete against the best of the best a lot more frequently. (...) “Although there are certain things like the media that make me stand out, I think that I'm a drop in the ocean when it comes to these things.”
Maja Chwalinska at Monterrey Open 2026.
Someone who was for sure feeling like another drop in the tennis ocean just a few months ago is Maja Chwalinska. But in Singapore, she will arrive as one of the revelations of the year and the player who touched millions of hearts around the world when, at 24, she won nine matches in a row at Roland-Garros to go from the qualifications to the final. The Polish player became the first qualifier to reach the women’s singles final in the open era and the first qualifier in the tournament’s history to do it. Tennis then got to discover the skills of a left hand that can hit all the shots and all the speeds in the game, helped by a more than keen tactical sense. She had no sponsor and barely enough money for accommodation when she started her Parisian journey, but her entire life was to change overnight.
Chwalinska nearly lost her career back in 2021 when she started to struggle so much with her mental health that she decided to take a break. She then bravely opened up about her battle with depression, helping many others on the way. “The break wasn't very tough. The tough moments were before the break, I would say. I was struggling a lot," she said in Paris about pushing too much to go on and yet finding herself unable to get out of bed at some point, feeling “lifeless.” Yet she fought her way back before a severe knee injury put another stop to her career at the end of 2022. Again, she got back up. Now a Top 30 player, the former Australian Open junior doubles champion (with Iga Swiatek!) has built an instant connection with the tennis fans thanks to an infectious positive spirit, a creative game style, and her Cinderella-like story.
“When I arrived in Warsaw, there were a lot of people at the airport and the next few days were kind of crazy," Chwalinska told the media at Wimbledon. "And I felt like an imposter a bit, like I don't deserve it. Like, guys, it was just one tournament. "Of course, on one hand, I really appreciate it. It's amazing to feel love and appreciation from people. But on the other, I feel like it's just tennis. And, you know, I'm not a god or anything. I'm just a human being. (...) My routines and, like, priorities, they haven't changed," she said. "There's more attention, which is normal. But I have my priorities set." And not even bad luck will get her to deviate from her dreams, as she badly sprained an ankle in London, and yet found her way back later this summer. That’s just what Chwalinska does: she fights. The love of the game is too strong for her to give up. "I love watching tennis. And when I was younger, I watched tennis all day every day. I'm a tennis freak a bit. (...) And sometimes I come back to these old matches (of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) and I watch them play, and it feels like poetry, really." That surely explains the imagination that gets out of her racquet!
Sara Bejlek at the US Open 2026.
Singapore will really bring the artists this year, because the last left-hander of that new crop of WTA stars also owns a creative and quirky game. Czech player Sara Bejlek can do it all and can defend her ground like very few others. It doesn’t matter that the 20-year-old stands under 5-foot-3, as the native of Znojmo is a feisty competitor who will hit it right back at anyone. At 20, she’s been on the “ones to watch” list since she was 16, the year she reached the Roland-Garros junior semi-finals in 2022, clinching the doubles titles before getting out of the qualifications at the US Open.
Bejlek already had that X factor, but she needed the time to find her footing as an athlete in a tour where powerful players make the rules. This year has been the confirmation she had been waiting for, with a title in Abu Dhabi and reaching the semifinals of the WTA 1000 of Cincinnati. Sure, she won three WTA 125s in 2025, but beating players like Barbora Krejcikova, World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys on her way in Cincinnati put her into the Top 30 and on the breakthrough list. “The great results helped me build my confidence,” she told the press in Cincinnati. “I feel like everything is coming together. I’ve learnt to believe in myself a lot more than ever before. When I play, I just believe in me, whatever happens.” Bejlek often says how inspired she’s always been by Rafael Nadal, who she watched play a lot when she was a kid, and the Czech definitely tried to take a page out of this legend’s book. “She’s such an athletic, fast player,” said her rival Coco Gauff in Cincinnati. She really makes you earn every point and is a fighter.”
Fighting spirit, creativity, quirky game styles, and a lot of flair, here’s what these new faces of the game will bring to the crowds in Singapore. They will need all of this package anyway to find a way through the established champions set to light up that draw, especially as Singapore could become a turning point in the race to grab these WTA Finals spots. Stakes will be as high as the show.
Mirra Andreeva at the National Bank Open 2026.
How could it not be with Mirra Andreeva, the 19-year-old wonder who clinched her first Grand Slam title this year at Roland-Garros? She’s been a blockbuster from the moment she set foot on the professional tour and started to make waves at just 16. Now a Top 5 player, Andreeva, with her chess-like way of playing tennis, is a contender for every title, and yet she would maybe not advise every other tennis prodigy to be as intense as she can be. "Perhaps simply to be a little kinder to myself, to take it a bit easier, and not to put so much pressure on myself. Not to expect so much from yourself," she told the press ahead of the US Open. Something the US player Amanda Anisimova has also learned the hard way throughout all the ups and downs of a tennis prodigy before reaching the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2025. Her easy power and spectacular game style will for sure make her a crowd sensation in Singapore.
Jessica Pegula at the Berlin Tennis Open 2026.
Top seed Jessica Pegula will have some tough work to do on her way to the trophy, but with her counterpunching skills and how well she covers her ground, she has proved often enough that she can weather many storms. A finalist at the US Open in 2024, she already won the titles in Dubai and Charleston this year, played the finals in Berlin, Washington and Cincinnati, and also reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Did you say consistent?
Barbora Krejcikova at the Wimbledon Championships 2026.
There will also be another singles Grand Slam champion in the draw, outside of Andreeva, with Czech powerhouse Barbora Krejcikova, a winner in Paris in 2021 and London in 2024, who is always a crowd favorite with how clean she hits the ball, how smartly she uses her power, and how great she is at the net. We’ll have it all in Singapore this year: game styles, personalities, résumés, and history makers!
Singapore Tennis Open 2026
The countdown to championship tennis is on. This September, Singapore takes centre court for a week of world-class play at OCBC Arena, The Kallang - where blistering serves, nail-biting rallies, and top-tier talent collide.
Tickets are moving fast. Secure yours now and be there for every ace.
Get your tickets here.
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