The federation says the WTA did not fine Alex Eala

On Thursday, Oct. 8, Sen. Bong Go asked a plain question in the Senate sports hearing. Had the WTA sanctioned Alexandra Eala for skipping the China Open to play the Asian Games? Tonette Mendoza, executive director of the Philippine Tennis Association, shook her head.

The association had asked the tour to set aside any penalty after Eala decided on her own to play for the Philippines. Mendoza said the WTA came back with two questions: had she chosen it without pressure from the government or the federation, and were the Games an Olympic qualifier? The federation answered yes to both. Mendoza said the WTA did not reply after that. The Senate heard her. The tour has not published a waiver.

The 2026 rulebook splits the punishment. For Eala, missing a mandatory WTA 1000 means a zero that has to count on the singles ranking. The fine is separate, and it uses her ranking at the entry deadline. A late withdrawal from a 1000 is $20,000 in the top 10, $10,000 from 11th to 25th, and $5,000 from 26th to 50th. She first reached 18th on Aug. 24 and was still 18th on Sept. 28, so she spent that whole window on the $10,000 line. That is the figure Philippine coverage has used.

Three times a year, a player can take an excused withdrawal and avoid the cash. The same section says the zero still goes on the ranking when the missed event is a commitment tournament. Mendoza was answering a question about a sanction, and she talked about a fine. She did not say whether Beijing would count as a zero.

A larger number sits in a different chapter, and it describes a different week. A player ranked 11th to 20th can be fined $75,000 for playing an event that is not on the WTA or ITF calendar in the same week as a 1000. The Asian Games are on the ITF calendar. They are an Olympic qualification event. Mendoza’s reading matches that chapter. The penalties, she told the hearing, are written for players who skip a mandatory tournament to play an exhibition. “It’s silent on representing the country.”

Billie Jean King Cup is the national-team week the book does mention. A player who withdraws from a WTA tournament because she is there is still subject to the late-withdrawal fine. The tour’s own country competition leaves the money in place. Eala is 21. Players under 17 do not have to play the mandatory 1000s.

The Olympic question was about the event, and the event answers it for the champion. The women’s singles winner in Nagoya can earn a continental place for Los Angeles 2028 if she is inside the top 500 at the cutoff and her country still has room. Eala left with bronze. Wang Xiyu, who beat her in the semifinal, won the gold and that place. Eala can still reach the Olympics through the rankings. The bronze does not carry the continental place.

Two other things she said are her account. She told the hearing the WTA had passed new rules late the previous week for players who want to represent their countries. The rulebook linked on the WTA site is still the one dated July 27, 2026. She thanked the Philippine government and said she thought that opposition was why a fine could not be imposed. The week before the hearing she met the International Tennis Federation. She said they were supportive of players representing their countries.

On Oct. 12 in Wuhan, ranked 19th and seeded 13th, she lost her first match to Shi Han. The Chinese qualifier, ranked 217th, beat her 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was Shi’s first win over a top-20 player. Eala is in the Ningbo Open, a WTA 500 that starts Oct. 19. The federation says the fine did not come. Whether Beijing is a zero on her ranking is a line the WTA has not published. She was 18th on Sept. 28 and 19th on Oct. 12. One place does not show whether that zero was entered.