Alexandra Eala's Asian Games campaign ends in disappointment as gold dream slips away

Alexandra Eala's quest for gold at the Asian Games has once again come to a sorry end after she blew a set lead against Xiyu Wang to lose 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. She will have to settle with yet another bronze medal as her ambitions to step on that elusive top step of the podium continue.

It is a third bronze medal earned at the Asian Games, with the 21-year-old unable to add another piece of gold to her Southeast Asian triumph last year. She went into the event as the huge favourite, with many of the top WTA Asian talents overlooking the games in Nagoya for the China Open instead.

Eala did not seek to compete in the WTA 1000 event, focusing instead on representing her country on the big stage.

Her campaign in Japan began on the front foot, defeating Patcharin Cheapchandej 6-1, 6-0. Joanna Garland was next, picking up a commendable 7-5, 6-0 victory to set up a tie against Wang. It started well, but after winning the first set Eala was pegged back by the Chinese.

The fourth seed prevailed, making it an all-Chinese final showdown for the third edition in a row, and it will be a sixth event on the spin where China tops the podium following Zhang Shuai's triumph over Yulia Putintseva. The 2018 runner-up will hope to go one better against Wang, but for Eala it is another bronze, and she was not satisfied with that.

A despondent Eala reacted to her loss in an interview with One Sports. “Oh, I think, yeah, a lot of lot of good points, a lot of tough moments for me," she said. "I think in the end she played better and yeah, have to sit and think about it a bit. I need time to process and think about like you said.”

On the WTA Tour, Eala is one of the most popular figures with fans from all around the world travelling to watch her matches live. The Filipina was again followed by a huge number of supporters, but this time with the added pressure of delivering gold for them.

While she did not get over the line for the ultimate prize, Eala was grateful for the support she had. “Yeah, thank you so much. It meant a lot to me to be here and to compete, and, you know, at the end of the day, I gave my all. I prepped the best I could prep. I and I fought the best I could fight. So, um, yeah, you know, happy that I was able to have this experience.”

Eala's decision to compete at the Asian Games over the China Open was cast in doubt with a $10,000 fine possibly looming for skipping the WTA 1000 tournament. She made up her mind and committed to representing the Philippines.

Eala had come off a flourishing period on the court, seeing positive results on grass before a stunning transition to hardcorut saw her win the DC Open. She failed to go deep in the resulting tournaments, failing to defeat some high calibre opposition.

She was then one of the favourites to win the Singapore Open title in a rapidly depleting field, but her aspirations were immediately extinguished as she fell to Tatiana Prozorova, who was ranked 180th in the world when the competition started.

It was a disappointing way to start her Asian swing, and it has not got much better with this latest setback. Eala confirmed that she would make an immediate return to action at the Wuhan Open, a second consecutive WTA 1000 tournament. There are not a lot of points on the line for Eala to defend, meaning that this is a great opportunity to gain some more traction in the WTA rankings.

Sitting 18th in the world, Eala opted not to compete in either the China Open or Wuhan Open. This means her trip to Wuhan is a free-hit, and one she will dearly want to capitalise on as the events come thick and fast.