Alex Eala falls to sixth seed Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 in the Ningbo Open round of 16

Alex Eala's run at the Ningbo Open ended in the round of 16 on Thursday. The 21-year-old from the Philippines lost 7-5, 6-4 to world No. 13 Diana Shnaider, the tournament's sixth seed, in their first official meeting on the WTA Tour.

The defeat leaves Eala 1-3 in the Asian swing with two tournaments left in her season. She had snapped a losing skid earlier in the week with a first-round win over Diane Parry.

The first set stayed on serve until Shnaider broke in the ninth game to lead 5-4. Eala answered right away with a break of her own to level the set at 5-5.

Breaks on both sides

Shnaider broke again to go up 6-5 and then held to take the opening set 7-5. She out-hit Eala 16-12 in winners in the set.

The second set opened with six straight service breaks to reach 3-3. Eala finally held for a 4-3 lead, but Shnaider took the last three games to close out the match.

Up next

Eala moves on to the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan, another WTA 500 event that runs Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. She remains one of the most followed players in the sport back home, where she was honored at the presidential palace in July.