Eala fails to get past Ningbo Rd 2

MANILA, Philippines —  Alex Eala’s breakthrough deep run in the Asian swing will have to wait.

Despite a gallant stand, Eala fell prey to Russian ace Diana Shnaider in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to miss out on a quarterfinal seat in the WTA500 Ningbo Open yesterday at the Yinzhou International Tennis Center in China.

After a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 34 Diane Parry of France, the 21-year-old Filipina relinquished 4-3 leads in both sets, none bigger than a breakpoint fumble from what seemed a commanding 40-15 advantage in the eighth game of the second frame.

Instead, Shnaider forced a deuce, eventually snatched the game and capitalized on Eala’s mishaps from there on to unleash a strong 3-0 finisher marked by a winner from seven deuces in the back-and-forth 10th game.

The 22-year-old Russian – a lefty like Eala – will next face world No. 12 and Ningbo No. 4 seed Iva Jovic of the United States, who drubbed No. 35 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 6-4, 6-3.

For world No. 20 Eala, unseeded in an Asian tourney for the first time, it’s still a commendable run especially against a higher-ranked opponent in WTA No. 13 Russian with career best of 11th in the world rankings and a bevy of solid Grand Slam runs.

Shnaider was also a former world junior No. 3 while Eala was ex-world No. 2, slugging it out in a match that lasted one hour and 55 minutes.

Eala was in the fight by all means, holding her serves at least in the early goings.