WUHAN: Filipina star Alexandra Eala suffered a shock 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 first-round defeat against 217th-ranked Chinese qualifier Shi Han at the Wuhan Open on Monday.

Eala, the 13th seed, missed last week’s China Open in order to compete in the Asian Games in Japan, where she claimed a bronze medal for the Philippines.

Her return to the tour did not go as planned. Just one week separates Eala and Shi in age and despite the gulf in their experience, very little separated the two 21-year-olds on Monday.

Eala is ranked 19 in the world, a title winner on the WTA Tour and a former semi-finalist at the WTA 1000 level. Shi, meanwhile, is ranked outside the top 200 and entered the clash with just two tour-level victories under her belt.

For large stretches of their showdown though, their contrasting positions were completely unnoticeable.

Eala shook off trouble on her own serve and converted her first break point opportunity of the match to scoop the opening set in 54 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern but this time Shi utilised her powerful backhand to break Eala for a 4-3 advantage and she soon drew level to force a decider.

Riding a wave of momentum, Shi grabbed a seventh game in a row to leap to a 3-0 lead in the final set as Eala faded.

Shi finished the job to claim the first tour-level top-100 victory of her career and book a second-round date with former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.

Earlier, world number 91 Wang Xiyu opened up the evening session with a near-flawless 6-2, 6-0 performance against her compatriot Wang Xinyu in what was a highly anticipated Chinese derby.

The left-handed Xiyu, who recently clinched the gold medal at the Asian Games to secure qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, won the last nine games of the contest with Xinyu to set up a second-round meeting with fellow wildcard Mia Pohankova.

Meanwhile, freshly crowned China Open champion Zheng Qinwen announced her withdrawal from her home tournament in Wuhan citing fatigue and a right shoulder injury, a day after becoming the first Chinese player to clinch the Beijing title.

Mirra Andreeva, the player Zheng beat in the Beijing final, also withdrew, citing a change of schedule, as the duo joined a growing list of high-profile Wuhan absentees that includes world number one Elena Rybakina, last year’s champion Coco Gauff and reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026