Eala eyes fresh start at Ningbo Open

LOOKING to get back on track after a string of upset losses, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra “Alex” Eala will compete at the WTA 500 Ningbo Open in China. Running right after the 1000 Wuhan Open, Ningbo will unfold from Oct. 19 to 25. World No. 19 Eala suffered her worst loss of the season in Wuhan, where she got booted out with a 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 loss to Chinese qualifier and No. 217 Shi Han last Monday. It was Eala’s third straight loss to a player ranked significantly lower than her. The losing spell started at the Singapore Open second round where she fell to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, on Sept. 24. A week later at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Eala bowed to world No. 85 Wang Xiyu, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, to settle for a bronze medal on Oct. 1. Then came the latest shock defeat to Shi on Oct. 12 in Wuhan, where Eala once again took the first set only to crumble afterward. The 21-year-old likewise suffered a first-round exit in doubles with Turkish player Zeynep Sönmez, falling to the Ukrainian tandem of Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina on Oct. 13. Eala looks to put that all behind her in Ningbo, hoping for a fresh start and to find the winning form she...