Alex Eala is not done winning.
The 21-year-old Filipina ace shrugged off fatigue to outwork 37-year-old Zhang Shuai of China, 6-3, 6-2, in the opening round of the 2026 Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday in London, United Kingdom.
Fresh off her WTA 125 Lexus Birmingham Open title run on Sunday—which saw her world ranking rise to No. 33—Eala showed signs of early struggle at Court 1 of Queen’s Club against the experienced Chinese veteran, a former world No. 22 in singles.
Eala dropped her serve in the opening game and fell behind 0-2 in the first set as Zhang leaned on her power and heavy groundstrokes.
But once Eala settled into the match and absorbed the early pressure, she began dictating rallies with her steadier shotmaking.
The Filipina ace stormed back, winning the next three games before Zhang halted the run in the sixth game to level at 3-3.
That, however, would be Zhang’s last stand in the set as Eala swept the remainder to take it 6-3.
The second set opened with an exchange of service breaks, but Eala quickly reasserted control by taking the next two games to go up 3-1.
Zhang—currently ranked No. 8 in doubles and a Grand Slam doubles champion at the Australian Open and US Open—momentarily stopped the momentum by holding serve in the fifth game.
From there, Eala shut the door completely.
The world No. 33 won the final three games to seal the victory in one hour and 11 minutes.
The win sets up a rematch with good friend, sixth seed and world No. 19 Iva Jovic of the United States. The 18-year-old Jovic defeated Antonia Ruzic of Croatia in her opening match, 6-3, 6-4.
Eala and Jovic last met two weeks ago in the opening round of the French Open, where the American teen prevailed before going on to reach the third round, eventually falling to four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan.
