Filipina tennis sensation and Globe ambassador Alex Eala continues to improve in the Women’s Tennis Association’s ranking after jumping 53 notches en route to setting another career milestone.
The 15-year-old Rafa Nadal Academy scholar is now ranked 662nd in the latest WTA results, an impressive achievement from her previous career best 715th last week.
Eala’s impressive run in her first-ever W60 category tournament in Bellinzona, Switzerland has helped her a lot in getting valuable ranking points. Eala beat Margot Yerolymos of France in the first round in straight sets,7-6 (6), 6-2 and eked out a come from behind 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-0 over 12th seed Laura Ioana Paar of Spain to get into the third round of the tournament. The Filipina ace, however, fell to local bet Simona Waltert in the battle for a spot in the quarterfinals, 5-7, 6-3, 2-6.
Eala’s three opponents enjoy higher rankings and are more experienced than her but nonetheless gave them all a good game. And despite the loss in Bellinzona, Eala remains optimistic and positive that she will only get better and tougher in the coming tournaments.
Eala has been a Globe ambassador since 2013. She copped her first professional singles title last January and has since shown great composure and maturity against older and higher-ranked opponents in her recent tournaments in Miami and in Switzerland.