Alex Eala has downplayed fears she has a knee injury following her opening-round win at the Hong Kong Open.

The second seed was made to work hard in her 6-4, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old Emerson Jones on Tuesday. The Filipina raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set, only for the world No 132 to peg her back and make the opener more of a battle.

But in the end, Eala’s quality told as she set up a second-round match with world No 84 Tereza Valentova on Thursday.

On the front foot 👊

Alex Eala battled hard to defeat Jones 6-4, 6-3, and confirm her place in the Round of 16 in Hong Kong 👏

#PHKTO2026 https://t.co/hZabXcB3tK

— wta (@WTA) November 3, 2026

In her Pan Pacific Open loss to Diana Shnaider last week, the 21-year-old took a medical timeout and received treatment on her right ankle.

And for this contest with the Australian in Hong Kong, the left-hander had her right knee taped. However, the world No 17 allayed any concerns that this is an injury ahead of facing Valentova.

More Alex Eala News

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

When asked about the tape on her right knee, she replied, “Yeah, I’m feeling good. I think you know it’s the end of the year. So nothing out of the ordinary, you know, and I’m healthy. I’m happy, super blessed.”

Eala was supposed to play American Alycia Parks in her opening match but the world No 40 pulled out late on with an injury, giving the lucky loser Jones a chance to shine. The teenager impressed in patches, with the Filipina predicting many more matchups in years to come.

She said, “It was a really good match. Emerson is such a sweetheart off the court and such a great player on it, so looking forward to many more matches together in the future.”

The Hong Kong Open will be Eala’s last WTA Tour event of a gruelling 2026 season. If she wins the title this week, she could rise to a career-high ranking of 15.

However, both world No 15 Sorana Cirstea and world No 18 Leylah Fernandez may have a thing or two to say about that in Hong Kong.