ALEX Eala’s first Southeast Asian WTA 500 campaign ended in heartbreak as the third seed lost to world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in the Singapore Open on Thursday night at the Kallang Sports Stadium.
The Singapore Open marked Eala’s first tournament since her US Open campaign, where she reached the round of 16. She headed straight to the Final 16 this time as the third seed but ended up falling at the first hurdle.
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In a fiercely fought match that took over three hours to decide, Eala appeared in control after taking the opening set, only for Prozorova to claw her way back and secure her first career win against a Top 40 player.
The Filipina struggled to find her footing after a rare two-week break from competition as the gritty Russian seized momentum early and made it difficult for Eala to find her rhythm and fire her trademark winners.
Prozorova will next face China’s Xinyu Wang as she joined the Last 8 that also included top seed Mirra Andreeva, sixth seed Leylah Fernandez, fourth and fifth seed Elise Mertens, and Maja Chwalinska, among others.
The loss, as bitter as it was, may end up as a blessing in disguise as Eala can now turn her complete focus on the tennis competition of the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, scheduled for September 27 to October 3.
The 21-year-old heads into the continental meet as the Philippines’ highest-ranked tennis player and one of the leading contenders for the women’s singles gold, with several big names, including world No. 1 Elena Rybakina, Janice Tjen, and Naomi Osaka, opting to skip the Games in favor of the tour-mandatory China Open.
She is also entered in the mixed doubles event in Nagoya.
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