Eala bows out of Singapore Open after three-set loss

Alexandra Eala’s Singapore Open campaign ended Thursday night after the third-seeded Filipino fell to Russian Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in the second round at the OCBC Arena.

Eala, the world No. 18, took the opening set but could not sustain her advantage as Prozorova rallied to win the match in three hours and nine minutes.

Prozorova, ranked No. 180 in the world, advanced to the quarterfinals against Chinese Xinyu Wang, who defeated Taiwanese Joanna Garland, 7-5, 6-4.

The 22-year-old Russian had also needed three sets to beat Belgian Sofia Costoulas, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2, in the opening round, a match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes.

Eala will next travel to Nagoya, Japan, for the 20th Asian Games, where she is set to compete in the singles and doubles events with Shaira Hope Rivera.

It will be Eala’s second Asian Games appearance. She won the singles and mixed doubles gold medals at the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China.

Elsewhere in the Singapore Open, top seed and world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 6-4, 6-2, to set up a quarterfinal match against sixth seed Leylah Fernandez.

Fernandez, a Filipino-Canadian, beat American Alicia Parks, 6-4, 6-3.

Fourth seed and defending champion Elise Mertens of Belgium advanced by walkover over Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Mertens will next face fifth seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland, who defeated Oleksandra Oliynykova, 6-0, 6-1.

Australian Talia Gibson also advanced after beating Slovakian Viktoria Morvayova, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1). She will face the winner of the match between Greek Maria Sakkari and Japanese Nao Hibino.

The Singapore Open was upgraded to a WTA 500 event this year, opening the Asian swing.

The other tournaments in the Asian swing include the China Open from Sept. 30 to Oct. 11, Wuhan Open from Oct. 11 to 18, Ningbo Open from Oct. 19 to 25, Japan Open from Oct. 18 to 25, Toray Pan Pacific Open from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, Guangzhou Open from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, Hong Kong Open from Oct. 31 to Nov. 8, and Chennai Open.

Photo courtesy of WTA