Alexandra Eala suffers brutal loss to world number 305 in China after twice squandering lead

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Alexandra Eala suffered a tough loss on Tuesday in the Guangzhou Open first round.

Eala, who has just achieved a new career high ranking of 53, was beaten by American opponent Claire Liu 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Liu, ranked 305 in the world, fought well to battle back against Eala, who looked destined to win the match on more than one occasion.

Consequently, Eala – seeded fourth – has exited the competition. Liu will face Anna Bondar in the next round.

Eala, who has now won just one WTA Tour-level main-draw match [at the US Open] since her marvellous run to the Eastbourne Open final, will hope to bounce back quickly from her loss on Tuesday.

Alexandra Eala squanders missed opportunities

As mentioned previously, Eala was in a commanding position on more than one occasion during her loss to Liu.

After a comprehensive performance in the first set, Eala led 6-2, 4-2 and looked set to close out the contest.

However, she lost the next four games to the American, who took the second set.

In the final set, Eala again led, this time 3-1. The Filipino star again squandered the lead, losing the decider 6-4.

Eala will now look ahead to her final WTA Tour-level event of the year. The 20-year-old is on the entry list for the Hong Kong Open, which is scheduled to begin on October 27.

The statistical breakdown

There was little to separate Eala and Liu during their contest on Tuesday.

As per Sofascore, both players made over 70 per cent of their first serves. Eala won 58 per cent of her first serve points, while Liu won 55 per cent.

The pair broke each other’s serve six times each, and both won under 50 per cent of their second serve points.

Remarkably, Eala won more points than Liu – 93 to 87 – despite losing the match.