Alex Eala sustains rise in WTA singles rankings
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
ALEX Eala of the Philippines has sustained her ascent in the world rankings, now at a career-high 763 in the latest list released by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Fifteen-year-old Eala saw her rankings climb by 140 points from her previous spot built on strong showing in recent tournaments she participated in.
Ms. Eala, a Rafa Nadal Academy scholar and longtime Globe ambassador, won her first professional women’s singles title when she defeated Spanish player Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers in the finals of the first leg of the Rafael Nadal Academy ITF World Tennis Tour in Mallorca, Spain, last month.
She then followed it up with quarterfinal finishes in the second and third legs of the Manacor W15 tournaments before flying to Grenoble, France.
In Grenoble, the Filipino tennis ace continued to make waves, going deep in the W25 tournament with wins over Laura Iona-Paar and seventh seed Cristina Bucsa before bowing to Maja Chwalińska of Poland in the battle for a spot in the semifinals.
“Happy with my new WTA ranking!” wrote Ms. Eala on her Facebook page.
The rise is a continuation of her solid run in the tennis circuit the last two years which has her claiming many firsts, including winning the Australian Open girls’ doubles title along with partner Priska Nugroho of Indonesia and a semifinal finish in the French Open juniors singles tournament in 2020.
Ms. Eala is currently the number 3 juniors player in the International Tennis Federation, allowing her entry to several women’s singles professional tournaments.
These tournaments give her chances to gain points that will help improve further her ranking.
In addition, her entry to top-ranked tournaments gives her much-needed experience and exposure against the best in the WTA.
In the latest WTA rankings, Australian Ashleigh Barty remains number one followed by Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka of Japan (second), Simona Halep of Romania (third), Sofia Kenin of the United States (fourth), and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine (fifth).
Completing the top 10 are Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), Serena Williams (US), Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), Bianca Andreescu (Canada), and Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic).
