THE Philippines’ Alex Eala fell to lower-ranked Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, 4-6, 4-6, on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the W100 Bengaluru tennis tournament in India.
The game ended in one hour and 21 minutes as Eala missed the semifinals.
Jakupovic made it to the semis against Czech netter Linda Fruhvirtova, while Eala picked up the needed points to move higher in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings.
Now ranked no. 133 in the WTA’s live rankings, Eala has the potential to climb to another career-high next week with the 12 points that she earned.
Despite the loss, Eala is fast emerging as one the circuit’s top money earners this season.
After previously winning four professional titles, but none above the entry level W25 tournament grade, Eala has climbed up in the list of top money earners in WTA Tour.
In the reaching the quarterfinals, the 19-year old Eala earned $1559.
From no. 156 last year, Eala climbed to no. 79 on the money list, when she collected $9,995 for her stint in the $200,000 Workday Canberra International early this month.
She now has a total career earnings of $468,376.
Coco Gauff is the WTA’s no. 1 money earning pro at $907,000, followed by Iga Swiatek with $600,900, Elena Rybakina with $421,350, Karolina Muchova with $373,000 and Jasmine Paolini with $326,800.