Alex Eala’s stop here turned out to be brief, and now, the 21-year-old tennis superstar is looking to fly out to Japan ‘as soon as possible’ to prepare for the next big battle.
She will come into the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya as the top-ranked player, and Eala is trying to downplay her favorite’s status.
‘I think I have as big a chance as any other person in the draw,’ said Eala, who exited the Singapore Open after just one match when she lost a marathon to unseeded Russian Tatiana Prozorova in the round of 16.
‘I think once you compete and, like I said, once you’re in the draw, you have the chance,’ she said as she tries to downplay her status as the favorite. ‘Yeah, so I’ll do my best. Of course, I’ll process the loss and all the steps along the way.’
Eala on Thursday night said she and her team will be heading to Japan ‘as soon as possible,’ with the tennis competitions starting on Sunday.
Very few expected Eala’s stint here to be so brief, as she was projected to reach Sunday’s final of the Singapore Open after several high-profile exits in the WTA 500 event cleared the path for a deep run and a better shot at capturing the crown.
Heartbroken and all, Eala found solace in playing close to home before a frenetic sold-out crowd on Center Court.
‘I’m happy that I was able to, I guess, battle in front of them and experience this atmosphere,’ she said. ‘Of course, I get a lot of support around the world, but I think it’s very different being geographically very close to home.’
The early exit didn’t keep Eala from looking at the bright side, but she felt no sense of relief after avoiding a potential scheduling conflict with the Asian Games.
‘It’s hard to see a loss as a blessing in disguise. Sorry, I was not expecting that question,’ she said. ‘I would have wanted to win today. I would have wanted to go further in the tournament.
‘A blessing in disguise or not doesn’t matter at the present,’ she went on. ‘What matters to me is learning from this loss and preparing for my next match.’
Eala won bronze in the continental showcase three years ago in Hangzhou, China, after falling to home bet Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals.
This time, Eala won’t have to deal with Zheng, the reigning Olympic champion and former world No. 4, who is on a resurgence after dealing with a nagging right elbow injury last year.
Zheng’s compatriot, Zhu Lin, the silver medalist in Hangzhou, is also skipping the Asiad as both will see action in the mandatory WTA 1000 China Open.
Indonesian star Janice Tjen also pulled out of the Asian Games to play in Beijing after failing to secure an exemption from the WTA.
As for Eala’s case, there’s still no word on the exemption that the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) sought from the organizing body of women’s tennis.