Alex Eala falls to Leylah Fernandez in Stuttgart opener as clay woes persist

MANILA, Philippines – Clay court success remains elusive for Alex Eala.

Eala crashed out of the opening round of the Stuttgart Open in Germany following a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Canada’s Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday, April 14, in a clash that put Filipino heritage on display. 

Fernandez, born to a Filipina-Canadian mother and an Ecuadorian father, lived up to her billing as the higher-ranked player by racing to a quick lead and keeping Eala at bay to claim the straight-sets victory. 

Down 2-5 in the second set, Eala won the next two games to fuel hopes of forcing a decider but ultimately fell short as world No. 25 Fernandez overcame a 0-30 deficit in the 10th game and wrapped up the match in 1 hour and 28 minutes.

“Happy to get the win here,” said Fernandez. “There is always that lapse in concentration. I’m just glad that I stayed positive as much as possible.” 

The win bodes well for Fernandez — the runner-up in the 2021 US Open — in her bid to turn around her bumpy 2026 campaign that saw her post a 4-9 record going into the WTA 500 tournament. 

Fernandez will face the winner between Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, it marked just the third time this 2026 that Eala lost in the first round following exits in the Australian Open in January and Qatar Open in February.

The world No. 45 Filipina suffered back-to-back defeats as she absorbed a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 of the Linz Open in Austria a week ago. 

Eala has not won more than once in a clay court event since she reached the third round of qualifying in the 2024 French Open.

But Eala hopes to change her fortunes on the challenging surface as she competes in the Madrid Open in Spain — a WTA 1000 tournament — later this April. – Rappler.com