Alex Eala speaks out after losing to Diana Shnaider at Pan Pacific Open

Alex Eala declared she was “proud” after losing a “huge battle” to Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals at the 2026 Pan Pacific Open.

World No 19 Eala fell 6-2, 6-7(5), 4-6 to 13th-ranked Shnaider in a two-hour-and-52-minute contest in Tokyo on Friday.

After Eala won the first set convincingly, a tight second set was decided by a tiebreak after neither player broke serve.

The Filipina came within two points of victory at 5-5 in the second set tiebreak, but Shnaider won the next two points to force a decider.

Shnaider held her nerve to close out the win after she earned the only break of the third set at 1-1.

Eala crushed Mika Stojsavljevic 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round at the WTA 500 event in Tokyo before she downed Talia Gibson 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round.

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In her post-match press conference, Eala said: “It was a huge battle, and I think both of us could reach or could take the match to a really, really high level.

“So, I’m proud of that despite the loss, but I do think, yeah, I had my chances. And next time, hopefully I do better in those moments.”

The 21-year-old also spoke about the support she received in Japan.

“Of course, to be in front of the crowd and to play in front of this atmosphere is always super special,” Eala said.

“And I love Japan as a whole, whether I’m here for tennis or not, so I really had fun.”

Eala’s loss to Shnaider in Tokyo came after she was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by the 22-year-old Russian in the second round at the Ningbo Open last week.

In her on-court interview after beating Eala in Tokyo, Shnaider said: “I feel like this match deserved to be a final; it was an insane level from both of us.

“I didn’t believe that I would be able to pull that win off because she played insane, but I was just trying to keep reminding myself to keep fighting for every point.

“As you can see on this court, it was a very tight second set, so definitely fighting for every point, and that paid off.”

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