FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala vowed to continue working on her game just as her ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) continues to rise.
In the latest WTA singles rankings, 15-year-old Eala jumped 248 spots to no. 942 from her previous position of 1,190, boosted by her impressive showing in the tournaments she was part of in the last two weeks.
Ms. Eala, a scholar of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain and a Globe ambassador, won her first professional career title in the first leg of the W15 Manacor ITF Rafael Nadal Academy World Tennis Tour in Mallorca on Jan. 24.
She followed it up with a quarterfinal finish in the second leg of the same tournament last week.
“It’s a long journey ahead and I will need to keep on working hard! “ wrote Ms. Eala on her official Facebook page on Monday, which was accompanied by a screenshot of the WTA Tour rankings wherein she also highlighted the significant increase she managed to post.
The last year and a half have been solid for the young tennis player.
In 2019, she helped the country qualify for the World Junior Tennis Finals in the Czech Republic, where the Philippines wound up in fifth place.
She also finished runner-up in the World Super Junior Under-18 Tennis Championships in Japan in the same year.
Last year, despite the pandemic, she won the Australian Open girls’ doubles title along with partner Priska Nugroho of Indonesia.
Ms. Eala finished 2020 strong with a semifinal finish in the French Open juniors singles tournament.
The Rafa Nadal Academy has been proud of its scholar, with no less than 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal egging Ms. Eala to continue soaring and reaching for her dreams.
Ms. Eala is now gearing up for a competition in France set to start on Feb. 9, where she hopes to boost her quest for another title and a chance to further improve her world ranking.
The WTA rankings, meanwhile, has Australian Ashleigh Barty at no. 1, followed Simona Halep of Romania at no. 2, Naomi Osaka of Japan (third) Sofia Kenin of the United States (fourth) and Elina Svitolina (fifth).
Completing the top 10 are Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic), Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), Bianca Andreescu (Canada), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), and Kiki Bertens (Netherlands).
American Serena Williams is at no. 11. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo