Alex Eala has assessed her performance and sent a message to her fans following an impressive opening round win at the 2026 Ningbo Open.
The world No 20 crushed 34th-ranked Diane Parry 6-3, 6-1 on the first day of the hard-court WTA 500 tournament in China.
Parry held an early 2-1 lead after holding in her opening two service games, but Eala won 11 of the next 13 games as she dismantled her 24-year-old French opponent.
In what was the first-ever meeting between the pair, Eala converted six of the nine break points she had, while she lost serve once in each set.
Eala arrived in Ningbo following a shock 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 defeat to Chinese qualifier Han Shi in the first round at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan last week.
The Filipina had not won a match since her quarter-final victory at the Asian Games, while her previous tour-level triumph was her second round win at the US Open.
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In her on-court interview after beating Parry, Eala said: “I’m very happy with my performance.
“I think it was a really good first round, tough first round. Diane is a great player.
“I think she’s had a really good year, so congrats to her for the year she’s done, and really happy to be in the second round.”
The 21-year-old then expressed her appreciation for her army of supporters from the Philippines.
“Thank you, everyone,” Eala said.
“Thank you so much for the support. It really makes my job very fun, even in the difficult moments, so I’m really happy to be here.”
Eala is aiming to win her second WTA Tour title after securing her maiden title at the 500 event in Washington DC in August.
The Quezon City-born star will play either world No 13 Diana Shnaider or world No 66 Yulia Putintseva in the second round in Ningbo.
The opening round match between Shnaider and Putintseva is set to be played on Tuesday.
If Eala advances to the quarter-finals in Ningbo, she could meet world No 12 Iva Jovic — the fourth seed. Eala was beaten by Jovic in the third round of the US Open last month.
