ALEX Eala and partner Chan Hao-ching bowed out in the opening round of the 2025 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, falling to Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3, 1-6, 7-10, on Monday night.
The Filipina and her veteran Taiwanese partner started strong, taking the first set 6-3. But theystruggled to sustain the momentum as their opponents stormed back to force a deciding tiebreak.
READ Eala begins HK Open at a career-best No. 51 in WTA rankings
Sasnovich and Rakhimova held firm to close out the match in 1 hour and 27 minutes and deny the world No. 51 a winning debut in the doubles play of the WTA 250 tournament.
The journey, however, isn't over yet as the 20-year old returns to action on Tuesday for her singles campaign where she'll meet Great Britain’s Katie Boulter in her opener.
Hong Kong is Eala's sixth stop in her Asian swing which began in Jingshan, China at the end of September.
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