Alex Eala learned something about her second-round opponent at the 2026 Singapore Open, and that was that while Tatiana Prozorova was just starting to find her footing on the WTA Tour, she had the power in her groundstrokes to cause issues. For Eala to win the match, she was going to need to be more consistent than the Russian.
Prozorova got the first break of the first set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead. One of Eala's talents, however, is not giving in easily, adapting to what the person across the net is trying to do to get a victory, and the Filipina raises her level. Eala might not have the greatest raw skills in the WTA, but she is definitely among the strongest mentally.
The Filipina won the next four games to get to 5-3, and appeared to be headed toward a fairly straightforward win at that point. Prozorova wasn't going to make it so easy, though. The Russian held serve and then pushed Eala to serve out the set. After eight deuce points, she finally did so in just over an hour.
Alex Eala shocked by Tatiana Prozorova at the 2026 Singapore Open
Neither player was playing at a high enough level to be elite competition later in the tournament. Prozorova had 10 winners but 26 unforced errors, limiting her ability to come through on bigger points on Eala's serve. Eala played no more efficiently, however. She finished the opening set with seven winners and 24 unforced errors.
The outcome of the match was still to be determined and might come down to who could clean up their game first and then sustain that form thereafter.
Alexandra Eala got the early lead in the second set with a break, but in the next game, Prozorova got the break back to even the set at 2-all. No worries for Eala fans, though, as their favorite player then broke in the next game to get to 3-2. She almost stunningly held at love in the next game to get to 4-2.
With Eala serving at 4-3, Prozokova broke at love, and the set was back to 4-all. In truth, Prozokova has good groundstrokes that she needs to learn to repeat a bit better, but Eala shouldn't have been having so much of an issue with a player she is better than. She also needed to be able to put away her opponent more easily.
Eala certainly couldn't in the second set. Prozorova would win five of the last six games, finishing the set with another break of the Filipina. Stunningly, the match was tied at a set apiece.
Prozorova played better in the set overall and was far better than in set one. She finished with 25 winners and 22 unforced errors. Eala played to the same level in the opening set, with 10 and 16, respectively.
The Russian took an early lead in the third set, getting a break of Eala in the second game. Eala broke right back, held, and then broke again, and seemingly finally had the momentum. She didn't. She was broken, and Prozorova evened the set at 3-all. She wouldn't lose another game. She held after an exceedingly long game to get to 4-3 and then broke Eala at love. She would take the set 6-3.
Next for Tatiana Porzokova in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open will be Xinyu Wang. Wang has yet to win a singles title in her career, but has reached a ranking of No. 30. She is capable of giving any player problems.
