Alex Eala is back to winning ways on the WTA Tour after beating Diane Parry in the first round of the Ningbo Open.
Eala defeated Parry 6-3, 6-1 in China, securing an impressive victory after one hour and 17 minutes. The Filipina superstar now meets sixth seed Diana Shnaider in the second round of the WTA 500 tournament.
Since her opening win, Eala has been busy off the court on social media, offering fun insight for her fans by answering a series of questions. And one involved the 21-year-old naming her dream doubles partner on the WTA Tour.
Alex Eala names Zeynep Sonmez as her dream doubles partner
When asked who she would choose as her doubles partner, Eala told Insight Ningbo: “Oh I would pick Zeynep Sonmez. She’s a really good tennis player and we have so much fun.”
Eala and Sonmez are close friends, and in fact only just played doubles together at the Wuhan Open. The two rising stars were, however, beaten by Ukrainian duo Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina in their opening match. Like Eala, Sonmez is a one-time WTA champion, with the current world number 63 having secured her maiden title in Merida in 2024.
Eala then named the player she would do Karaoke with, commenting: “I think I talked about taking Moyoka [Uchijima] to Karaoke. I feel like… I don’t know if both of us make a great duet, but yeah I think it would be fun.”
The Filipina also said of her ideal road trip partner: “Who would I take on a road trip? Hmm, Coco [Gauff] has really good music taste. I feel like Coco and I, the playlist would be banging.” And naming who she would make a funny video with, Eala said: “I’d pick Fran Jones.”
It’s been a rollercoaster period for Eala, who entered the Ningbo Open after back-to-back WTA defeats. Eala lost to Tatiana Prozorova in Singapore, before suffering the same fate against Shi Han in Wuhan.
But she has returned to winning ways in her busy Asian Swing, which she briefly interrupted to represent the Philippines at the Asian Games. Eala won the bronze medal at the tournament, falling short of many expectations for the youngster to claim gold.
However, she is now officially up and running in Ningbo, where she will be busy in preparation for a debut meeting with Shnaider. The 22-year-old Russian battled past Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 7-6(7-4) in her opening match.
