Eala gains lessons from a sorry loss
Philippines Alexandra Eala hits a return against Russia's Tatiana Prozorova during the WTA Singapore Open Tennis round 16 in Singapore on September 24, 2026. Roslan RAHMAN / AFP
Philippines Alexandra Eala hits a return against Russia's Tatiana Prozorova during the WTA Singapore Open Tennis round 16 in Singapore on September 24, 2026. Roslan RAHMAN / AFP
SINGAPORE – The wounds have yet to completely heal, but Alex Eala is already moving on from her ugly loss to Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the Round of 16 of the Singapore Tennis Open on Thursday at the OCBC Arena here.
The 21-year-old Filipina said she picked up a lot of lessons from her 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 setback, which she would use as she progresses in her professional career.
She said she would reconvene with her team and map out a solid game plan that will ultimately lead to a solid performance in her coming tournaments.
“I think first, I just have to, you know, like every loss, accept the fact that maybe she performed better today, and then look at it, take the time to analyze, take the time to learn,” said Eala during the post-match press conference.
“And, you know, I fought. I did everything I could on the court.”
“But yeah, I think it's just, you know, reconvene with my team, it's going to be, ‘we didn't perform like we wanted because of A, B and C,’ and then, you know, get back on court and work on A, B and C. We need to try to do better for the next match.”
With the Singapore Open behind, Eala will gear up for a four-hour flight to Japan for the 20th Asian Games, where she will try to make history by becoming the first Filipino tennis player to win a singles title since the legendary Johnny Jose did the trick in 1962 in Jakarta.
Then, she will embark on a backbreaking Asian swing with stops in Hong Kong and Wuhan.
Eala said she will use all the lessons she gained to do better in her future tournaments.
Like I said, I think I just need to analyze and reconvene with my team and, you know, say, “Hey, we need to work on A, B and C.”
“I'll work on it. And I think that's the beauty of sports. It's the beauty of tennis. It's a constant, I guess, constant evolution,” she said.
“You're always learning. And yeah, in the end, you're going to have days like this where you battle for three hours and it just doesn't go your way.”
“So yeah, I have to learn from it, but also not try to make it bigger than it needs to be.”
