Eala shows fight but falls to Rybakina in Italian Open third round

Alex Eala delivered one of her strongest performances of the season, but it wasn’t enough to overcome world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, as the 19-year-old Filipina bowed out with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat in the third round of the 2026 Italian Open on Sunday at the Foro Italico in Rome.

Despite the loss, Eala (world No. 42) showed significant growth, going toe-to-toe with one of the WTA’s most in-form players and producing 13 winners in the first set alone — her season-high in a single set.

Rybakina, fresh off titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart, used her powerful baseline game and serve to control the match. She broke Eala early in the first set and held firm to take it 6-4. In the second set, Eala showed resilience by breaking back to level at 2-2, but Rybakina quickly regained control, winning the next three games and closing out the match in one hour and 33 minutes.

The Kazakh star dominated with six aces and superior efficiency, highlighting the gap between the two players in key moments.

Eala now shifts her focus to recovery ahead of the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg, France (May 17–23), which will serve as her final preparation before the French Open.