Alex Eala’s fans have helped propel her all the way to the top 20 of the WTA rankings this year.
Eala has been a top 20 player since winning her first WTA title at the Washington Open, and she is one of the most popular players in all of tennis right now.
However, the Filipina has suffered a couple of disappointments recently, including Eala’s loss to Tatiana Prozorova in Singapore.
Prozorova has now looked back on this win and revealed how difficult she really found it to play against Eala’s fanbase.
Tatiana Prozorova claims Alex Eala’s fans are harder to play against than her
Prozorova discussed her win against Eala when speaking to First&Red, as she suggested that it was even harder to play against her fans than her tennis. Prozorova continued to explain how she prepared to play against Eala in what is the biggest win of her career in terms of ranking.
“I almost immediately started to prepare for my match against Alexandra, because it’s not so hard to play against her as it is against her fans,” said Prozorova. “Especially since this is Asia, which is quite close to the Philippines. But really I was lucky and it grew as the match went on.
“Overall, I’d say Alexandra is quite a challenging player. We studied her matches quite a lot beforehand, I watched and analysed how she plays, where she stands, where she plays more often, where she plays less often, what makes her uncomfortable. And based on everything I saw, I made a plan. My coach and I put it together, adjusting things here and there, relying on my feelings and my skills, so to speak.
“On the court, I followed it from start to finish, but somewhere in the first set I didn’t hold on to the advantage that I’d created at the beginning of the first set. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but then I realised as the match progressed, despite the first set, I realised I could beat her and I had to really go for it, really want to win every point at any cost and give it my all.
“Honestly, I didn’t know until the very end how this match would go. Even when I took the second set and was leading in the third, the crowd was right on her side, they were still cheering, raising a ruckus, chanting her name, waving placards, but I realised that I wasn’t bothered by it anymore. I was in my element, on my own wavelength, on a roll. I understood everything already. The main thing is to follow the plan until the end.”
Are Alex Eala’s fans good for tennis or do they need to behave better?
They have received some backlash for their behaviour during some of her recent matches…
What is next for Tatiana Prozorova after her run in Singapore?
Prozorova continued her run at the Singapore Open even after beating Eala, as she also beat Xinyu Wang to reach her first ever WTA Tour semi-final.
However, Prozorova’s best ever run at a WTA tournament was ended abruptly after she was hit in the head by a ball in the doubles match. Prozorova was subsequently ruled not to be fit to compete in her semi-final match, something she protested against in social media statements.
Prozorova was still rewarded for her semi-final run in Singapore, as she was propelled up 57 places to a career-high ranking of world number 123.
Due to the concussion protocol that the WTA Tour have, Prozorova was also unable to compete in qualifying at the China Open, but she is hoping to return to upcoming WTA 125 tournaments in Suzhou, and then also WTA Tour level events in Ningbo, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, with Eala also entered into two of those events.
