Alex Eala and En-Shuo Liang attain doubles quarterfinals berth via walkover

Filipina tennis player Alex Eala and En-Shuo Liang of Chinese Taipei punched their ticket to the doubles quarterfinals after winning the match against Czechia duo Ekaterina Alexandrova and Katerina Siniakova via walkover of the World Tennis Association or WTA 500 Ningbo Open doubles’ competition in China.

The unseeded Filipino-Taiwanese duo will compete against fourth-seeds Alexandra Panoa of Russia and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico.

Eala is trying to bounce back from her early exit in the tournament’s main draw after succumbing to Australia’s Priscilla Hon, 4-6, 3-6. 

After receiving the boot in her opening match of the Wuhan Open, the 19-year-old could not counter the dominant serves of Hon. The Australian foe delivered nine aces against the 11th-seeded Eala.

Despite her best efforts, the Rafa Nadal Academy student struggled with consistency as she committed eight double faults. Eala could not repeat her triumph over Hon during the quarterfinals of the 2023 Roehampton where she ruled in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. 

Prior to this defeat, Eala was ousted in the Round of 64 of the Wuhan Open after a 3-6, 1-6 loss against the 29-year-old Katerina Siniakova, who is ranked first in the world in doubles and 37th in the world in singles.