LOOKING to shake off the pain of absorbing upset losses, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra “Alex” Eala will take her act to the WTA 1000 Wuhan slated from Oct. 12 to 18 in China. Favored to win the gold medal at the 20th Asian Games in Japan, world No. 18 Eala settled for bronze after falling to No. 85 and eventual champ Wang Xiyu in the semifinals, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6. The defeat came just a week after Eala also lost to a much lower-ranked player, No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova at the 500 Singapore Open round of 16, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6. That is a rough start to the Asian Swing for Eala — one she looks to put behind as she returns to the Tour after skipping the China Open for the Asiad. As a top 32 player, Eala will have a first-round bye anew in the star-studded tournament. The current top 10 in the rankings are competing in the meet. World No. 1 Elena Rybakina, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Coco Gauff, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, No. 6 Linda Noskova, No. 7 Elina Svitolina, No. 8 Karolina Muchova, No. 9 Iga Swiatek, and No. 10 Marta Kostyuk will be there to stand in Eala’s way. Other high-profile players including world No. 12 Belinda Bencic, No. 13 Iva Jovic, No. 14 Diana Shnaider, No. 16 Sorana Cirstea, No. 17 Naomi Osaka, No. 19 Elise Mertens, No. 20 Jasmine Paolini, and No. 21 Maja Chwalinksa are also set to compete. The other listed players are world No. 22 Anna Kalinskaya, No. 26 Leylah Fernandez, No. 27 Marie Bouzkova, world No. 28 Ekaterina Alexandrova, No. 29 Sara Bejlek, No. 30 Ann Li, No. 32 Jelena Ostapeko, No. 34 Nikola Bartunkova, No. 35 Cristina Bucsa, No. 43 Barbora Krejcikova, No. 47 Oleksandra Oliynykova, No. 50 Anhelina Kalinina, and No. 53 Tamara Korpatsch. The Wuhan Open will be Eala’s first 1000 tournament since the Cincinnati Open last August. Eala reached the third round in Cincinnati where she fell to world No. 11 Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.