Eala hopes to regain winning ways at Ningbo Open

October 18 ------ ALEXANDRA “Alex” Eala will try to snap out of her losing spell when the Filipina tennis standout sees action in the Ningbo Open 2026 scheduled October 19 to 25 in China.

The world No. 19 Eala will now turn her focus to the WTA 500 tournament at the Yinzhou Tennis Center after a series of disappointing results capped by an early exit in the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open. The 21-year-old ace is unlikely to receive a first-round bye in the 28-player Ningbo Open, with the privilege reserved for the top four seeds.

Headlining the field is world No. 1 and defending champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, followed by No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the USA, No. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and No. 9 Iga Swiatek of Poland. Other notable direct entrants include Ukraine’s No. 10 Marta Kostyuk, USA’s No. 11 Iva Jovic, Switzerland’s No. 12 Belinda Bencic, Russia’s No. 13 Diana Shnaider, Belgium’s No. 14 Elise Mertens, and Romania’s No. 16 Sorana Cirstea.

Competing in her third tilt in the Asian swing, Eala will be raring to bounce back from a string of dismal defeats against players ranked way below her. The Filipina netter suffered a stunning setback to No. 217 Chinese qualifier Han Shi, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, in the Wuhan Open singles first round last Monday night.

Eala wasted a hard-earned opening set advantage and committed a slew of uncharacteristic errors against the determined Han, resulting in her third shocking loss to a lower-ranked foe in just a span of three weeks. Seeded No. 4 with a first-round bye, Eala yielded to then No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, to crash out of the WTA 500 Singapore Open second round.

She then bowed to No. 85 Wang Xiyu, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, in the women’s singles semifinals of the 20th Asian Games in Japan, where she settled for a bronze medal and missed a direct qualification spot for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Eala’s Wuhan Open campaign ended on a sour note after she and Turkish pal Zeynep Sonmez lost to Ukrainian wildcards Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska, 2-6, 3-6, in the doubles first round on Tuesday.

Source: manilastandard.net