SEAsters rising: Meet the four young stars driving Southeast Asia’s tennis boom

Led by the Philippines’ Alex Eala, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, and Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew, an exciting surge in Southeast Asian tennis is underway.

Gone are the days when tennis stars hail only from either Europe or the US. This time, a rather unexpected region is carving its own spot in the cutthroat world of professional tennis: Southeast Asia.

This region of over 700 million people is amid an unprecedented tennis resurgence. Driving this movement are four young players, who are not only steadily climbing the WTA rankings but are also redefining the sport in Southeast Asia while inspiring young fans to follow in their footsteps.

*At the center of this boom is Alex Eala, who pushes Southeast Asian and Philippine tennis into uncharted territory. Photo above from WTA; banner photos from the Roland Garros website*

With the Philippines’ Alexandra “Alex” Eala, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, and Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew leading the way, the future of Southeast Asian tennis has never been rosier. Through electrifying wins and nail-biting matches, these athletes are proving Southeast Asians can compete with—and beat—the world’s best.

Meet the trailblazers

The region has tasted elite success before. Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki blazed the trail in the 1990s, reaching the 1997 Wimbledon quarterfinals and a career-high ranking of world No. 19.

Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn soon carried the torch, matching that no. 19 mark, reaching the 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinals, and capturing four WTA singles titles.

Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki
Photo: Getty Images

Now, a new generation is writing its own chapter. In a remarkable alignment on August 24, 2026, all four players reached career-high rankings on the exact same day: Alex at No. 18, Janice at No. 35, Lanlana at No. 72, and Mananchaya at No. 97. Alex’s milestone stands as a high-water mark for Southeast Asia, officially making her the highest-ranked player in the region’s history and breaking the longstanding benchmarks set by Basuki and Tanasugarn.

As a Filipino, I cannot help but feel overflowing pride that a kababayan (and a fellow kyusi girlie, too!) is at the center of this tennis boom. Let’s get to know her and her SEAsters a little bit more, shall we?

Alexandra “Alex” Eala, Philippines

*Alex Eala smiles as she raises her WTA Mubadala DC Open trophy on August 3, 2026. Photo from Mubadala DC Open website*

Born in Quezon City, Philippines, the Rafa Nadal Academy alumna first made headlines through her historic win at the 2022 US Open Girls’ Singles title, the first from the country to achieve that feat. Known for her fearless left-handed baseline game and grit, the 21-year-old has built a reputation as a “giant slayer,” holding an impressive 9–4 record against top-10 opponents. Her ascent has made her the centerpiece of the Philippines’ tennis movement and a standard-bearer for the region.

Returning to Flushing Meadows, the site of her unforgettable junior Grand Slam victory, she is on track to enter the main draw as a top-17 seed in women’s singles. Though her mixed doubles run alongside Canadian star Félix Auger-Aliassime ended in the round of 16 against husband-and-wife Gaël Monfils and Elina Svitolina (4–1, 4–1), at least Alex can now focus on singles as she awaits her main draw matchups.

Janice Tjen, Indonesia

*Janice Tjen reacts during her first-round match against Leylah Fernandez of Canada at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne on January* *20, 2026*. Photo: Associated Press

The 24-year-old Jakarta native honed her aggressive baseline style in collegiate tennis at Pepperdine University in California. Almost immediately after she turned pro, Janice has established herself as her country’s most formidable singles talent in decades, combining explosive athleticism with tactical precision. In November last year, she made history after winning the Chennai Open as the first player from Indonesia to win a tour-level singles title in 23 years. While a reliable singles player, Janice is also quite the doubles specialist, with a ranking of No. 39.

Representing Indonesia at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, Janice delivered an impressive performance by capturing two gold medals in the women’s team and women’s doubles events alongside Aldila Sutjiadi, while also securing bronze in the women’s singles event. During her semifinal match against Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew (we’ll talk about her in a bit!), Janice was forced to retire due to health issues after losing the first set 4–6, which led to her settling for the bronze. Despite battling illness, she returned to the court to successfully complete her golden doubles run.

Janice holds a 1–0 advantage over Alex. In their lone official WTA professional showdown at the 2025 WTA SP Open Sao Paolo’s quarterfinals, Janice delivered a clinical performance to defeat Alex in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Lanlana Tararudee, Thailand

*Lanlana Tararudee smiles after beating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu at the WTA 125 Austin* *on March 15, 2026. Photo: AFP*

Thailand’s reigning top tennis player brings powerful shotmaking to the court. Lanlana entered the 2026 Australian Open qualifiers, seeded 21st, and won all three rounds to make her first major tournament main draw, culminating in a 6–3, 6–0 victory over Austria’s Lilli Tagger. She capped off her Grand Slam debut, taking valuable experience from a hard-fought battle against Belgium’s Elise Mertens. Lanlana made her top 100 debut at No. 99 in May, just before the 2026 French Open.

While the 22-year-old has yet to meet Alex in an official WTA Tour singles match, their paths crossed at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. Lanlana led Thailand to team gold during the event, while Alex helped the Philippine team clinch a bronze medal finish.

Mananchaya Sawangkaew, Thailand

*Mananchaya Sawangkaew reacts after defeating 2026 Roland Garros finalist Maja Chwalinska for her maiden Grand Slam main-draw victory at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships on June 29, 2026. Photo: AETLC*

Lace up! 2026’s running season kicks into high gear starting June

Also hailing from Thailand, the 24-year-old relies on fluid groundstrokes and swift movement, establishing herself as a cornerstone of her country’s national team while steadily rising on the global tour. Mananchaya and Lanlanee had a joint historic run at this year’s Wimbledon, where they made Open-era history as the first two players from Thailand to reach the second round of the same Grand Slam tournament.

Mananchaya delivered on home soil at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games. Powering through the draw, she reached the women’s singles final, where she claimed silver after a 6–1, 6–2 loss to Alex—a win that ended a 26-year gold drought for the Philippines, following in the footsteps of Pia Tamayo (1981) and Maricris Fernandez (1999). Mananchaya captured gold in the women’s team event with compatriot Lanlana.

On the professional circuit, however, Mananchaya’s head-to-head with Alex remains tied at 1–1. The Thai standout won their first meeting in a three-set quarterfinal at the 2024 ITF W100 Takasaki, 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, while Alex avenged the loss with a sweet 6–3, 6–2 victory at the 2026 WTA Birmingham Classic quarterfinals, where the Filipino was the eventual champion.

Hello, New York!

All four players head into the US Open at Flushing Meadows riding career-high momentum. Alex made headlines last year by advancing to the second round before falling to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa. This time, a more confident Alex arrives primed for a deeper run, boosted by her first WTA title in Washington, D.C on August 3.

*Alex Eala reacts against Clara Tauson during their first-round match at the 2025 US Open on August 24, 2025. Photo: Getty Images via AFP*

Janice also had an impressive US Open debut last year, becoming the first Indonesian woman to win a main-draw match in New York since 2002, before losing to former US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round.

Meanwhile, Lanlana and Mananchaya locked in direct main-draw spots at this year’s tournament. Their top-100 rankings allowed them to skip qualifiers altogether.

Thanks to these four promising talents, 2026 is proving to be a banner year for Southeast Asian tennis. And as the hard-court swing peaks, Alex, Janice, Lanlana, and Mananchaya are poised to make more history at the final major of the year.