Eala jumps to career-high No. 195 in WTA rankings
ALEX Eala’s rise in the women’s professional tennis circuit reached another height.
For the first time in her budding career, Ms. Eala barged inside the Top 200 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings after a remarkable campaign in back-to-back tournaments in Great Britain.
Ms. Eala, only 18 years old, jumped 22 places from No. 217 to No. 195 for her new career-high ranking following a championship and a runner-up finish in two straight W25 tournaments.
Her previous career-best ranking was at No. 214 last year.
Ms. Eala reigned supreme in the W25 Roehampton in London earlier this month before falling just short with a runner-up finish in W25 Aldershot in Hampshire, England for a foiled back-to-back championship goal.
The lefty scholar from the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain beat the No. 2 seed Arina Rodionova of Australia in the W25 Roehampton finals, 6-2, 6-3.
That’s the fourth title for Ms. Eala in a young international stint also highlighted by two juniors doubles grand slams and the historic singles grand slam title in the US Open last year.
Ms. Eala came on the verge of following it up right away but she fell to Destanee Aiava of Australia, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, in the W25 Aldershot finals.
She also made it to the W25 Roehampton doubles quarterfinals with Aiava and semifinals of the W25 Aldershot with Polish partner Urszula Radwanska. — John Bryan Ulanday
