Naomi Osaka, Alexandra Eala to headline Hong Kong Open in October

Naomi Osaka and rising star Alexandra Eala are set to light up the city’s tennis scene in October, after both committing to play in the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.

The 20-year-old Eala’s participation has been confirmed days after she made history by becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a grand slam match in the Open era, doing so at the US Open in New York.

Japan’s former world No 1 Osaka is also on a roll, having on Wednesday continued her resurgence by reaching the semi-finals of the same tournament. Her appearance in Hong Kong will be greatly anticipated: she had been set to play at last year’s edition, only to be sidelined by injury days before it took place.

Joining the duo at the tournament, set to take place at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium from October 25 to November 2, will be Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, who triumphed at the lower-level WTA 125 event hosted at the same venue in Causeway Bay last year.

Organisers announced the first batch of participating players on Thursday, along with ticket details. Public tickets, ranging in price from HK$160 to HK$970 (US$21 to US$124), will be available from September 19.

The qualifying rounds on October 25 and 26, and the main draw’s opening day on October 27, will all be open to the public for free.