Alex Eala’s main draw debut in the 2026 Australian Open was short but certainly not too sweet, as she lost to big-serving Alycia Parks, 6-0, 3-6, 2-6, on Monday at Court 6 of Melbourne Park.
Perfect Set 1 Wasn’t Enough for Eala
The 20-year-old Eala, egged on by a capacity crowd of mostly Filipino fans, survived the opening game, saving multiple break points before drawing first blood. That breakthrough opened the floodgates, with Eala repeatedly pressuring Parks’ vaunted serve. The Filipina broke the American three times and raced through the opening set, 6-0.
The tide shifted quickly in the second set. Parks, a former world No. 40, found her rhythm by pairing her power serve with heavier groundstrokes en route to a 3-0 lead. Eala, though, strung together three straight games to level the score at 3-3 before Parks leaned on depth and pace to regain control. The 25-year-old, who is currently ranked No. 99, swept the final games to send the match into a winner-take-all third set.
Parks continued the turnaround, imposing her will on the younger Filipina to take the set, 6-2, and the match.
Same Old Problems Creep Up
Once again, the Eala pattern of starting strong and then fading away reared its ugly head. Throughout her rise, the Rafa Nadal Academy alum has had this worrying trend of storming out of the gates, only to surrender momentum before giving up the match.
This loss to Parks fit that pattern: strong start, poor finish. What’s worse, the Filipina ace looked far and away the superior player in the first set, only to look vastly outmatched in the second and third sets. This pattern showing up at the most inopportune time is a stark reminder to Eala and her team that there’s so much more work to take that next step.
All isn’t lost, however, as the Filipina ace still has her doubles campaign with Ingrid Martins. Eala and Martins will start their journey as partners on Tuesday against the duo of Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama.
