She faced strong opposition from no less than the current world number 2.
On Sunday, May 10 (local time), Filipina tennis star Alex Eala returned to the clay court at the ongoing Italian Open in Rome, Italy.
The 20-year-old, who is world number 42 in the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) global singles ranking, went back for her Round of 32 match against 26-year-old Elena Rybakina, who is currently number 2 globally.
In the face of the stiff contest, Eala displayed a strong showing in the match, even getting a lead in the second set against Rybakina.
However, the Kazakh netter, who is the current champion of the Australian Open, was able to bounce back and ended her contest with the Filipina player in just two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
With her exit from the women’s singles category of the WTA 100 tournament, Eala now shifts her concentration to the women’s doubles.
She has since teamed up with American player Hailey Baptiste and will face the pair of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.
It will be Eala’s second time to face the duo, whom she previously played against in the recent Madrid Open 2026 together with her Turkish partner Zeynep Sönmez.
