FILIPINO tennis star Alexandra Eala ended her campaign at the WTA 500 Ningbo Open after falling to sixth seed Diana Shnaider, 5-7, 4-6, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, at the Yinzhou Tennis Center hard courts in China.
Eala, a singles bronze medalist at the Nagoya Asian Games last month, defeated French qualifier Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round.
According to the WTA, Eala and Shnaider are among the three highest-ranked left-handers on the women’s tour. Newly crowned Wuhan champion Maja Chwalinska leads the group at No. 11, followed by Shnaider at No. 13 and Eala at No. 20.
Eala has slipped to No. 20 in the world rankings following first-round exits at the Wuhan Open and Singapore Open.
While left-handed players can pose challenges for their right-handed opponents, Shnaider said facing another left-hander presents its own difficulties because of the different spins and angles involved.
“You expect the slice serve into the body, definitely a little more variation and a different type of ball strike,” Shnaider explained in her on-court interview.
“You just gotta get used to the ball – I guess the first few games you just get used to the spin, where are her strengths, what is her weakness. You just gotta give yourself a little more time to adjust, then it becomes a bit easier as the games go on.”
Shnaider has fared better in these matchups, with her victory over Eala improving her tour-level record against fellow left-handers to 11-9. Eala, meanwhile, fell to 1-4.
The match marked their first meeting at the professional level. Eala won their only previous encounter in the juniors, beating Shnaider, 6-1, 6-3, in the third round of the 2019 Osaka JA event.
Shnaider will next face No. 4 seed Iva Jovic of the United States, who beat Italian Jasmine Paolini, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Canadian Leylah Fernandez and Czech Marie Bouzkova also reached the Final Eight.
Fernandez survived Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3, to set up a meeting with Ekaterina Alexandrova, who won the first set, 6-4, before Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk retired.
Bouzkova, on the other hand, downed Anastasia Zakharova, 7-5, 6-2, to forge a quarterfinal duel with compatriot Sara Bejlek, who eliminated Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Unseeded Katarzyna Kawa of Poland ousted fifth seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-2, to advance to a quarterfinal showdown with top seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. / PNA WITH WTA