Alexandra Eala recently expressed concern after her round-of-64 opponent, American star Hailey Baptiste, retired due to injury at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the WTA 1000 tournament. The World No. 40 has entered the tournament after concluding her run at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, where she lost the round of 64 to Tereza Valentová.
Alexandra Eala Empathizes As Hailey Baptiste Retires With Abdominal Injury
Eala has begun her Middle East Swing impressively with the Abu Dhabi Open, where she reached the quarterfinal round, eventually falling to Ekaterina Alexandrova. She also competed in doubles with Janice Tjen, reaching the semifinal round. At the WTA 1000 outdoor hard-court tournament in Doha, she exited early, after losing to Valentová with a concluding scoreline of 6-7 (6-8), 1-6.
After these events, she commenced her campaign in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the outdoor hard-court tournament, which is being played at Aviation Club Tennis Centre from February 15 to 21, 2026. In her round of 64, which had a heavy crowd, she clashed against Baptiste, the World No. 39, winning the first set dominantly, and then the American retired in the second set, citing an abdominal injury, concluding the match at 6-4, 0-1.
Alex Eala was so thoughtful making sure Haley Baptiste is not severely injured and also approaching the opposing coaches to wish all of them well ❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/9SjIMAGeBM
— marv (@mvn_dn) February 15, 2026
After the match, Eala was seen hugging Baptiste as she unfortunately succumbed to her injury. While expressing her concern and hopes for the player, the Filipino star added, “Obviously, no one likes advancing in this way. Being on tour, I’m starting to discover at this level how difficult it is to maintain your health physically. I hope Hailey is okay and will bounce back soon.”
Eala has moved to the round of 32, where she will be clashing against World No. 8, Italian talent Jasmine Paolini, and considering her next match, along with her overall thoughts on the tournament, she added, “I’m super happy to be in the next round. These tournaments are such great experiences for me, especially playing in front of the best crowd ever. I’m really doing my best to try and enjoy every moment I have on the court.”
Eala and Paolini will be facing each other for the first time in their careers, with the latter being the sixth seed in the tournament. Apart from these talents, Elena Rybakina, Amanda Anisimova, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula, among others, will be clashing for the title.
