MANILA – Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eala absorbed a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the second round of the WTA 500 Linz Open in Austria on Wednesday night, April 8, 2026.
It was Eala’s first tournament on clay this year and her first loss to Ostapenko in three meetings.
Fourth seed Ostapenko rallied from 1-5 in the second set to claim victory in one hour and 43 minutes.
In 2025, Ostapenko lost twice to Eala: 6-7(2), 5-7 at the Miami Open in the United States (Round of 64) and 6-0, 2-6, 2-3 (ret.) at the Eastbourne Open in the United Kingdom (Round of 16).
World No. 46 Eala earlier defeated hometown bet Julia Grabher, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round.
Ostapenko will face Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the Round of 16.
Ruse pulled off a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, last year’s runner-up.
In other matches, top seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia powered past American Sloane Stephens, 6-4, 6-2, while fifth seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania advanced via walkover against Hungary’s Dalma
Galfi (5-0).
Austria’s Anastasia Potapova triumphed 6-4, 6-4 over China’s Zhang Shuai and will face Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in the next round.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina outlasted Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0, to set up a match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Other second-round matches pit second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and third seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia versus Austria’s Lilli Tagger. / PNA