MANILA, Philippines — After missing the Asian Games gold, Alex Eala wastes no time, returning to the grind with first-round matches in singles and doubles at the Wuhan Open in Wuhan, China today.
In her return to WTA action, the 21-year-old Filipina ace drew Chinese qualifier Shi Han in singles and reunites with close friend Zeynep Sönmez of Turkey against Ukrainians Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina in doubles – both set today at the Optics Valley International Tennis Centre.
She missed the China Open to chase Asian Games gold. The gold remained elusive, but Eala is back on WTA Tour right away.
Fresh from a bronze-medal finish in the 20th Asiad in Nagoya – her second straight Asiad bronze after Hangzhou 2023 following a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 semifinal loss to China’s Wang Xiyu at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center – Eala returns as the 13th seed in this final WTA 1000 event of the regular season.
It is no easy first assignment.
Shi Han, 20, may be ranked No. 231, but she is a dangerous floater on home soil. The 21-year-old from Jiaxing, Zhejiang, plays right-handed and owns a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 200 set in March 2025 with seven ITF singles titles and $238,305 in prize money to her name.
A wild card entry in the qualifiers, Shi Han announced her arrival in Wuhan by upsetting top-seed American Peyton Stearns, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, before routing Kamilla Rakhimova, 7-6(2), 6-1, to barge into the main draw where she now faces Eala.
If Eala gets past Shi, Eala is on track for a blockbuster second round against either Leylah Fernandez, the Filipino-Canadian lefty and former Singapore Open titlist, or Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. A third-round clash with second seed Jessica Pegula looms.