ALEXANDRA Eala snapped her three-match losing streak with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory over France’s Diane Parry in the opening round of the WTA 500 Ningbo Open in China on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.
The world No. 20 Filipina needed just one hour and 17 minutes to dispatch Parry and advance to the Round of 16, according to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Eala and Parry traded early breaks in the opening set before reaching a 3-all deadlock. The Filipina then took control, winning the next seven games to build a 6-3, 4-0 advantage.
Parry managed to win a game in the second set, but Eala quickly regained her footing and closed out the match with two more consecutive games.
Eala’s consistency proved decisive as she produced 12 winners against nine unforced errors. Parry recorded 11 winners but committed 25 unforced errors.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” Eala said in her postmatch interview, describing the match as a good but tough first-round test.
“Diane is a great player and I think she’s had a really good year. Congrats to her for the year she’s done and really happy to be in the second round. I’m very happy to have won the first round,” she added.
The victory marked Eala’s 34th tour-level win of the season and her first during the Asian swing after early exits in Singapore and Wuhan.
She lost to Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova in the Singapore Open before falling to China’s Han Shi in the Wuhan Open. Eala also captured a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, after losing to China’s Wang Xiyu in the semifinals.
Eala will face either sixth seed Diana Shnaider of Russia or Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in the second round.
The Ningbo Open, a WTA 500 hard-court tournament, runs until Sunday, Oct. 25. / LBG