It has been a shaky return for her after her bronze-yielding performance at the recent Asiad.
On Monday, October 12, Filipina tennis star Alex Eala returned to action after a week-long break following her participation in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, where she was able to bag a bronze medal in the women’s singles event.
This time, she returned to the Wuhan Open in China, a WTA 1000 tournament, and enlisted herself in both the singles and doubles events, where she paired up anew with her friend, Turkish player Zeynep Sönmez.
Prior to this, her previous play in the WTA tour was at the Singapore Open, where she bowed out of the competition after losing to Russian player Tatiana Prozorova in the round of 16.
But first, in the singles event, Eala, current world no. 19, faced Shi Han, who is ranked no. 217, for the qualifier.
Off the bat, the Filipina tennis star was already given a rough time by her opponent on the court, as the Chinese netter remained within a close distance of her performance in the opening set.
While Eala won the first set, it was not long before Han was able find her momentum and push the match into a decider.
However, by the third set, Alex was already needing to play catch-up with her competitor, who had already secured herself a comfortable lead before closing out the match on top.
The final scoreline: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The following day, Tuesday, October 13, Alex and Zeynep have finally reunited on the court to take on the tandem of Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine.
Immediately, the Filipina-Turkish pair struggled to find footing during the match and lagged behind the formidable tandem opposite the net.
In the second set, Eala and Sönmez looked to push the match into a decider, but their efforts did not pay off as Kalinina and Yastremska ultimately bagged the win: 6-2, 6-3.
Following her disappointing performance ij Wuhan, Alex will reportedly join the Ningbo Open, which is a WTA500 event that will start on Monday, October 19.
