Saudi's first female professional tennis player to play at Abu Dhabi Open

The start of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open is just around the corner and three additional wild cards have now been announced, with Saudi Arabia’s Yara Alhogbani and Japan’s Ena Koike entering the qualifiers, while Philippines’ Alexandra Eala will participate in the main draw at the second instalment of the tournament.

This year’s competition takes place at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, on February 3-11, featuring a star-studded line-up including the likes of Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, Greece’s Maria Sakkari and Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková.

With Grand Slam-winners Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu, along with fan favourite Ons Jabeur, also competing, fans can look forward to watching many of the world’s best female players challenge for glory at the WTA 500 event.

Having turned professional at the age of 14, Alhogbani became the first-ever Saudi Arabian woman to win a professional tennis event in 2022, defeating Tamara Ermakova to claim the J5 Isa Town tournament in Bahrain.

“I’m very happy to have been awarded a wild card for the qualifiers at this year’s Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and I’m looking forward to testing myself against some great players," the 19-year-old said.

“It’s so pleasing to see these types of tournaments take place in the Middle East and I’m sure it will be another exciting competition.”

Koike, a quarterfinalist at the 2023 US Open junior singles tournament, said: “I’m very excited about competing at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, it’s a great opportunity to be part of such a prestigious event.”