Eala seeks quarterfinals berth vs Shnaider

Manila Times - Oct 20, 2026

AFTER claiming her first win in the 2026 WTA Tour Asian swing, Alexandra “Alex” Eala seeks a quarterfinal berth at the 500 Ningbo Open in China. Eala, ranked No. 20 in the world, will face No. 13 Diana Shnaider of Russia in the round of 16 on Wednesday. Shnaider outplayed No. 66 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 7-6, on Tuesday afternoon to advance. Ending her skid against lower-ranked players and regaining her form, Eala scored an easy win against world No. 34 Diane Parry of France, 6-3, 6-1, to begin her Ningbo Open campaign last Monday. Prior to this victory, Eala suffered a string of upset losses against No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova in the Singapore Open round of 16, No. 85 Wang Xiyu at the Asian Games semifinal and No. 217 qualifier Shi Han at the Wuhan Open. “I’m very happy with my performance. I think it was a really good first round, tough first round,” said Eala in the post-match court interview last Monday. “Diane is a great player, and I think she’s had a really good year. Congrats to her for the year she’s done, and I’m really happy to be in the second round.” Giving up points against Shi with 37 unforced errors, Eala addressed that flaw and made just nine against Parry. Eala also dominated in serve...

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