Alex Eala’s difficult Asian swing continued as she was beaten in the second round of the Ningbo Open by Diana Shnaider.

The Russian star toppled Eala 7-5, 6-4 in a competitive match to end her run at the Chinese tournament and continue a run of early exits at events in Asia this year.

Eala was beaten in the first round of the Singapore Open and the Wuhan Open and she failed to win the gold medal for the Philippines at the 2026 Asian Games when she was the overwhelming favourite to do so.

While she did not play badly against Shnaider, Eala continued a worrying stretch of results which is beginning to showcase one of the biggest weaknesses.

Eala’s defeat to Shnaider was yet another loss against a left-handed player.

The Filipina has a worrying record against fellow left handers, where she does not have a single positive head-to-head record against any current left-handed player currently in the WTA Tour top 100.

Alex Eala’s record against left-handed players currently inside the WTA Tour top 100

- Maja Chwalinska – 0-1

- Diana Shnaider – 0-1

- Leylah Fernandez 1-1

- Wang Xiyu – 0-1

Eala’s sole defeat to Maja Chwalinska, who is currently the one of two left-handed players ranked above her, beat her in straight sets at a Challenger event in Grenoble way back in 2021.

Arguably the most difficult defeat of the lot came against Wang Xiyu, who stunned Eala in the semifinals of the Asian Games this year, which forced the 21-year-old to settle for the bronze medal yet again at the event.

The only left-handed player she has beaten is Leylah Fernandez, who she beat en route to the first WTA title of her career at the Washington Open this summer.

Eala has been beaten by Fernandez too, however, as the Canadian earned a victory against the star at the Stuttgart Women’s Open during the clay court swing this year.

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Left-handed players can always prove to be tricky in tennis, even for left-handers. There are not too many of them at the top of the game so they provide an unusual, and rare, puzzle on the WTA Tour.

Nevertheless, it is something that Eala must work out as left-handed players have already inflicted some of the more difficult results for the star in her burgeoning career.

There are currently only seven left-handed players ranked inside the top 100 on the WTA Tour, including the likes of Sara Bejlek and Taylor Townsend, so it is quite rare to come up against one of them. For a lefty to play a lefty is even rarer, and it is clearly one of Eala’s weaknesses.