Nagoya, Japan, September 25, 2026: Filipino Alex Eala is tempering her expectations as she shifts her focus to winning gold at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
World No.18 Eala is staying grounded despite being one of the favourites to win as top seed in the women’s singles draw that will be without defending champion Zheng Qinwen of China.
High-profile players such as World No.1 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Japan’s four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka are also skipping the Asian Games to play in the mandatory WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing.
“I think I have as big a chance as any other person on the draw,” said Eala during a press conference following her stunning Singapore Open round-of-16 loss to unseeded Russian Tatiana Prozorova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, on Thursday, September 24.
Eala was projected to reach Sunday’s final in Singapore before the 165th-ranked Prozorova pulled off the biggest win of her career.
"You are gonna have days like this where it just doesn't go your way. I work to learn from it, but also try not to make it bigger than it needs to be," Eala added.
With her campaign coming to an abrupt end, Eala said her plans were to head to Japan “as soon as possible.”
Eala is billed as one of the star turns in the Asian Games.
She won a bronze medal in the previous edition in Hangzhou.
