Abu dhabi: Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eala triumphed over Turkish wildcard Zeynep Sonmez, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open held at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre. Eala's victory on Tuesday morning marked a significant step in the tournament as she achieved her career-best World No. 49 ranking. According to Philippines News Agency, Eala is set to face Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the next round. Sasnovich secured her spot by defeating No. 8 seed Paula Badosa of Spain with scores of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Meanwhile, Indonesian Janice Tjen also advanced to the next stage by overcoming Australian Maya Joint with a scoreline of 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3. Tjen will now prepare to challenge No. 5 seed Ludmila Samsonova, who emerged victorious against American Sofia Kenin, 6-4, 6-0. In the doubles category, Eala and Tjen are scheduled to face the Canadian-French duo of Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic in the round-of-16. Fernandez, seeded sixth, also moved forward in the singl es competition by defeating French player Chloe Paquet, 6-0, 6-3. Fernandez will compete against American McCartney Kessler in the second round after Kessler's win over Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova, 6-3, 6-3. Other players advancing from the first round include British Sonay Kartal, who defeated Spanish Cristina Bucsa, 6-3, 7-6 (8); Swiss Simona Waltert, who overcame Australian Daria Kasatkina, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4; American Hailey Baptiste, who beat Serbian Teodora Kostovic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; and Czech Sara Bejlek, who won against American Ashlyn Krueger, 6-3, 6-0. Upcoming matches feature Kartal against defending champion and No. 1 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, Waltert against No. 3 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark, Baptiste against No. 4 seed Emma Navarro of the USA, and Bejlek against No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Ostapenko advanced by defeating Oksana Selekhmeteva, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Top seeds including Bencic, Tauson, and Navarro bypassed the first round alongside No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who will face Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska. Yastremska progressed with a victory over Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-2, 7-5.