Alex Eala ended her three-match losing streak on Monday evening, beating Diane Parry 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Ningbo Open. The win sent Eala into the round of 16 and gave her a clean response after two losses in the Asian swing.
The match began level at 2-2, but Eala took control from there and did not let it slip again. She won 11 points on Parry's first-serve deliveries in the opening set, while Parry finished with 25 unforced errors and Eala with nine, a gap that steadily widened as the match went on.
For Eala, the result mattered because it was her first victory in the Asian swing after defeats to Tatiana Prozorova in the Singapore Open and to Shi Han in the Wuhan Open. For Parry, it extended a difficult run to five consecutive defeats on tour, a slide that made every missed chance in the opening games feel heavier as the set moved away from her.
The turning point came after the early exchange of breaks and holds. Eala then strung together seven straight games and built a 3-0 lead in the second set before closing out the match 6-1, the kind of run that leaves little doubt about who settled first. She looked sharper, more controlled and more efficient in the key moments, and the score reflected it.
That leaves Eala waiting on the winner between Yulia Putintseva and sixth seed Diana Shnaider for a place in the next round. The result does not settle the harder test ahead, but it does give Eala something she badly needed at this stage: a win that stops the skid and restores momentum at the Ningbo Open.
