Alexandra Eala's poor form on the WTA Tour continued as she suffered a first-round exit from the Wuhan Open, against qualifier Han Shi.

Despite winning the first set, Eala fell to a 4-6 6-3 6-3 loss in two hours and 29 minutes against Shi, who also defeated Peyton Stearns and Kamilla Rakhimova in qualifying.

After no break points across the first eight games of the tie, Eala saved two break points in game nine before converting one of her own to win the opening set.

But Shi forced a decider after earning back-to-back breaks in the second set, during which she lost just six points on serve.

Eala squandered two break-point opportunities at the start of the third and was made to pay immediately, as Shi stormed into a 3-0 lead and held on for a statement win.

Winning big in Wuhan  Shi Han defeats Eala in a three-set battle! #dongfengvoyahwuhanopen https://t.co/CJPuZ2zuzL

— wta (@WTA) October 12, 2026

Jasmine Paolini, meanwhile, avoided an upset in the opening round after defeating Sara Bejlek 6-3 6-4.

Leylah Fernandez bounced back from her first-round exit in Beijing with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova and will face Shi in the second round in Wuhan.

Maria Sakkari will face Marta Kostyuk in the second round after a 6-4 6-2 victory over Donna Vekic.

Eala struggling since Washington success

Shi's victory over Eala was her first-ever over an opponent ranked in the WTA's top 20, with the latter's recent struggles continuing.

Since winning the Washington Open in August, Eala has a 5-5 record on the Tour, including back-to-back first-round exits in Singapore and Wuhan and a third-round defeat at the US Open.

She committed six double-faults against Shi without recording any aces, while also committing 37 unforced errors to her 20 winners.

Paolini was far from her best during her win over Bejlek, committing seven double faults and conceding 12 break points, though she did save eight of those while converting six of her own.

The Italian will face either Lilli Tagger or Nikola Bartunkova in the next round, as she aims to win consecutive matches for the first time since the US Open.