Eala falls vs Schnaider, exits Ningbo Open
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala bowed out of the Ningbo Open’s second round after absorbing a tough 5-7, 4-6 defeat against Russia’s Diana Shnaider Thursday in China.
Eala fought hard to force the third set, but ran out of fuel against the steady Russian.
“I’m obviously very happy with the way I played today. Definitely, Alex is very dangerous and tough opponent, also left handed and a big hitter,” Shnaider said after the match.
“She steps in, she rips the ball. I knew it was going to be a tough one. I'm very proud and happy with the way I played tonight.”
The two tennisters traded games in the first set, as the two were kept in a 4-all deadlock.
Shnaider then broke her opponent’s serve, before Eala returned the favor, 5-all.
The Russian closed the first set off with back-to-back games to gain the upper hand, 7-5.
Come the second set, the two still could not gain significant edge against the other.
Eala took the lead, 4-3, after holding her serve.
Frustrated and all, Shnaider powered through.
And with Eala committing errors, the momentum went to her opponent’s side, 5-4.
Serving for the match, Shnaider left her opponent on the rear-view mirror, but Eala went down swinging, forcing numerous deuces and taking advantages in the 10th game.
And, after seven match points, Shnaider's serve resulted in an Eala error.
The Filipina reached the second round of a professional tournament for the first time in Ningbo since her US Open run last month.
She suffered back-to-back first round losses in Singapore and Wuhan.
Shnaider, ranked 13th in the world, will be taking on American Iva Jovic in the quarterfinal round.
Jovic defeated Jasmine Paolini earlier in the day, 6-4, 6-3.
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