In their first official meeting on the WTA Tour, Alex Eala suffered a tight 7-5, 6-4 loss against world No. 13 Diana Shnaider in the round of 16 of the Ningbo Open on Thursday.
This now puts the record of the Filipina star to 1-3 in the Asian swing, with two tournaments left in the season.
To start the match, the first three service games were dominated by both players, with the second game and third game were swept by Eala and Shnaider respectively. Although aces weren’t prevalent, the trend continued on until the eight game to have a 4-4 deadlock late in the opener.
However, Shnaider struck the first break of the set in the ninth game, after a forehand miss hit by Eala to take control at 5-4. But instead of crumbling down late, the Filipina countered back with her own version of a break in the 10th game to extend the first set.
Yet, a third consecutive break transpired with Shnaider getting a second break to regain the driver’s seat at 6-5. The sixth seed then consolidated that break into a hold to have a one-set advantage at 7-5.
The main difference of the set came in the winners count, where Shnaider led by 16-12 over the 21-year-old Eala.
Going into the second set, a myriad of breaks became the theme with six straight breaks to have it tied at 3-3. Ultimately, Eala was the one who broke the spell in the seventh game with her first hold of the set to get a slight 4-3 edge.
Yet, Shnaider provided the finishing kick by securing the next three games, including the eighth and 10th game breaks.
Next up for Eala is another WTA 500 tournament in Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan, which runs from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1.
