Filipino tennis prodigy and Globe Ambassador Alex Eala’s remarkable run so far this year has resulted in another career milestone for her.
The 15-year-old is now ranked 763rd in the latest world rankings released by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Eala’s last 8 performances in her last three tournaments enabled her to jump 179 places from her previous ranking of 942nd.
Eala won her initial professional women’s singles title when she defeated Spanish netter 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 followed her historic with last eight finishes in the second and third legs of the Manacor W15 tournaments before flying to Grenoble, France.
Eala, a Globe Ambassador since 2013, stood toe to toe against older and higher ranked opponents in Mallorca posting several upset wins against highly-favored opponents such as number 2 seed Mirjam Bjorlund of Sweden, Alba Carrillo Marin of Spain, Ana Antigua De La Nunez and Silvia Ambrosio to reach the quarterfinals in last two legs of the Manacor tour.
In Grenoble, France Eala went deep in the W25 tournament scoring wins against Laura Iona-Paar and 7th seed Cristina Bucsa before bowing to Maja Chwalinska of Poland in the battle for a spot in the semifinals.
Eala’s elite standing in the junior’s ITF, where she is currently ranked as the world’s number 3, allows her entry to several women’s singles professional tournaments. These tournaments give her chances to gain points that will help improve further her ranking. More importantly, her entry to top ranked tournaments gives her much needed experience and exposure against the best in the WTA.