It was supposed to be a routine early-round match, with the tournament’s second seed expected to breeze past an opponent ranked 162 places below her in the world rankings.
Instead, an off-form Alex Eala was forced to grind through a tough battle but ultimately could not summon a victory.
Eala failed to overcome a lethargic start and a sputtering finish as she fell to Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in the second round of the 2026 Singapore Tennis Open on the indoor hardcourt of the OCBC Arena at The Kallang.
The 22-year-old Prozorova had failed to advance through the qualifiers of all four Grand Slam tournaments this year and has played mostly in WTA 125 events. But she showed her fighting spirit in the opening round by rallying from a set down to defeat Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Ranked No. 180 in the world, Prozorova was determined to turn what was expected to be a mismatch against the world No. 18 from the Philippines into a dogfight.
Eala was broken in the fourth game of the opening set and quickly found herself trailing 1-3. The Washington Open champion responded by earning five break points in the fifth game, then swept the next four games to seize a 5-3 advantage.
Prozorova narrowed the gap by holding serve in the ninth game, but Eala converted her seventh set point in the 10th to take the opening set after an hour and seven minutes.
The second set initially appeared to be going Eala’s way. She broke Prozorova in the third game to take a 2-1 lead, only for the Russian to immediately level at 2-2.
Eala responded by taking the next two games to move ahead 4-2. However, any hopes of closing out the match in straight sets were quickly dashed as Prozorova continued to find winners from different angles.
The Russian won five of the next six games to snatch the second set, stunning both her higher-ranked opponent and the predominantly Filipino crowd.
The third set turned into a seesaw battle.
Prozorova kept her foot on the gas and raced to a 2-0 lead. But sensing the match beginning to slip away, Eala responded with greater urgency and won the next three games to regain the upper hand.
Prozorova leveled at 3-3 and then found herself in danger in the crucial seventh game. The Russian, however, saved four break points to hold serve, reclaim the lead, and seemingly sap the fight out of the Filipina.
Eala then dropped serve at love, allowing Prozorova to storm ahead 5-3.
The Russian closed out the match in the ninth game, completing the upset after three hours and 11 minutes.
The Filipina now turns her focus to the Asian Games, where she aims to earn the country another medal and improve on her bronze finish at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.
