On Wednesday evening (Philippine time), Alex Eala absorbed a troublesome spherical of 16 exit with a 4-6, 7-5 loss to world No. 23 Jelena Ostapenko on the 2026 Higher Austria Linz.
The consequence marked a reversal from their 2025 encounter, when Eara dominated the previous French Open champion, successful in straight units on the Miami Open and in three units on the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
As together with her earlier match towards Julia Glover, Ila discovered herself in one other tight service maintain early on, however each she and Ostapenko held serve nicely by the primary 5 video games, with Ila main 3-2.
Nonetheless, the Filipino started to tilt the baseline exchanges in his favor, first taking the lead with a well-earned break and opening up a 4-2 cushion.
That benefit did not final lengthy, nonetheless, as Ostapenko rapidly turned issues round together with his trademark aggression, catching fireplace within the closing levels after breaking again within the seventh recreation.
The Latvian improved in 4 video games in a row, tightening her grip from the return line, profiting from Ila’s droop together with her first serve rhythm, and ultimately clinching the primary set together with her second break within the tenth recreation.
Popping out of the changeover, Ila leveled up from the baseline, main an early rally and stepping contained in the court docket to open the second set with a dominant four-game surge. He took a 4-0 lead with two clear service breaks and broken Ostapenko’s shot within the return recreation.
Whilst Ostapenko tried to battle again, Ila remained calm throughout lengthy exchanges and briefly prolonged the result in 5-1 after an alternate of fast breaks, however the Latvian confirmed apparent frustration with a number of double faults beneath strain.
However simply when Ila regarded able to convert, the momentum fully reversed. Ostapenko rediscovered his timing on each wings and broke within the seventh recreation, sparking a surprising comeback.
From there, the 2017 French Open champion went on a six-game shedding streak, dominating Ila with first-strike tennis and flattening her groundstrokes to finish the match.
Ultimately, the distinction in firepower spoke for itself, with Ostapenko hitting 41 winners to Ila’s 9.
Eara will then flip her consideration to a different WTA 500 event in Europe, as she is about to make her debut on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
