ALEXANDRA Eala of the Philippines squandered an opening-set advantage and bowed to Chinese qualifier Shi Han, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the Wuhan Open on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.
The 13th-seeded Eala, ranked No. 19 in the world, took the opening set after winning the final two games to break a 4-4 deadlock. However, Shi, ranked No. 217, fought back to claim the next two sets and eliminate the Filipino from the tournament.
According to Xinhua, Shi secured her first break in the seventh game of the second set before closing it out, 6-3, to force a decider.
Eala struggled physically in the final set as her unforced errors mounted, allowing Shi to race to a 3-0 lead. The Filipino managed to win two service games to cut the deficit to 4-2, but Shi held serve for a 5-2 advantage before converting her first match point to seal the upset.
Shi celebrated by dropping her racket and clutching her head in disbelief.
The Chinese qualifier said she was not discouraged after losing the first set against the world No. 19, admitting she had entered the match expecting a difficult challenge.
“I wasn’t surprised at all after losing the first set. She is a top-20 player,” Shi said, as quoted by Xinhua. “Before the match I was prepared to lose badly, so I served boldly in my service games and tried to make it as difficult as possible for her.”
Shi also credited her recent performance against China’s Zheng Qinwen at the China Open in Beijing for boosting her confidence. Although she lost that first-round encounter in three sets, she said she was pleased with her level of play.
“Actually, I was really happy with that match. I thought I played very well. In the third set, my fitness just couldn’t keep up,” she said.
Shi, who advanced through qualifying in Wuhan, will next face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, newly crowned Asian Games champion Wang Xiyu swept past compatriot Wang Xinyu, 6-2, 6-0, in their all-Chinese encounter in just one hour and eight minutes.
Wang Xiyu said her gold-medal performance in Nagoya had strengthened her belief in her training and encouraged her to approach every shot with greater determination. She will next meet Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova.
In other matches, Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic advanced after Denmark’s Clara Tauson retired while trailing 6-1, 2-0. Greece’s Maria Sakkari defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic, 6-4, 6-2. / LBG