Parks pulled out with a shoulder injury, and lucky loser Emerson Jones took her place. Eala needed 1 hour and 23 minutes to start her final tournament of the season with a win.
Eala moved up two places in the rankings released November 2, past the No. 18 she reached in August. She is the highest-ranked Filipino and Southeast Asian in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour’s history.
A tiebreak that turned on a double fault and a right ankle that needed treatment in the third set ended Alex Eala’s Pan Pacific Open. It is the second time in eight days that Diana Shnaider has beaten her.
Down a set to Australia’s Talia Gibson, Alex Eala won the last nine games in Tokyo and set up a quarterfinal rematch with Diana Shnaider.
Two years ago Alex Eala lost Ningbo qualifying as the world No. 148. On Thursday she saved six match points on Center Court before losing 7-5, 6-4 to Diana Shnaider.
Alex Eala beat Diane Parry 6-3, 6-1 in the Ningbo Open first round, her first WTA win since the US Open, on the day EJ Obiena defended her from online critics. Diana Shnaider is next on Thursday.
Alex Eala won the first set, then lost to No. 217 Han Shi 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 in Wuhan. That’s the third straight event where she won the opening set and lost.
Alex Eala heads into the Wuhan Open fresh off Sharapova’s podcast and cleared by the WTA. Now she needs her first-ever main-draw win there.
Alex Eala lost to a world No. 85 in the Asian Games semifinal and got called overrated. Days later, the world No. 1 and No. 2 lost in Beijing.
Alex Eala won the first set, then lost to No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 in Singapore. Next: an Asian Games gold chase that’s still unresolved.
