Eala tries to avoid another upset vs low-ranking foe in Toray Pan Pacific Open

MANILA, Philippines -- Alex Eala faces another upset-savvy opponent in Mika Stojsavljecic of Great Britain in Round 1 of the WTA500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan.

Ranked No. 308 in the world, the 17-year-old British is slated to become the lowest-ranked rival of Eala in a banner campaign this year marked by a meteoric rise to the WTA Top 20. 

But that should serve as enough warning for the 21-year-old Eala, who absorbed a bevy of upsets against lower-ranked foes in the past month. 

Stojsavljecic is also a wildcard in the tourney. 

Eala, for her part, came off a 7-5, 6-4 loss to World No. 13 Diana Shnaider of Russia to miss out on a quarterfinal seat in the WTA500 Ningbo Open over the weekend. 

That was Eala’s first loss against a higher-ranked adversary after a Round of 16 finish in the WTA500 Singapore Open as the No. 3 seed with a stunner against No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia and a Round 1 exit as the No. 13 seed in the WTA1000 Wuhan Open with a loss to No. 217 Han Shi of China. 

As the No. 1 seed in the 20th Asian Games, Eala also fell to the No. 85 Xiyu Wang of China to waste her best shot at gold without the top guns in the continental tourney for another bronze medal like in her Hangzhou debut.