ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA continues to break new ground not only for the Philippines but also for women’s tennis in all of Southeast Asia.
The 21-year-old Pinay ace climbed to No. 17 in the latest World Tennis Association (WTA)rankings released on Monday — a new career high that cemented her status as the highest-ranked Filipino and Southeast Asian female player in history.
Ms. Eala’s new position, from 19th the previous week, enabled her to reset her old mark of No. 18. She hit 18th in August after a hot start to her North American campaign, surpassing the old ASEAN standard of No. 19 previously shared by Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.
This new milestone, achieved after a quarterfinal finish at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, bodes well as Ms. Eala vies in her final WTA event in Hong Kong.
The lefty star is set to open her campaign at the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open against American Alycia Parks in the Round of 32 on Tuesday. — Olmin Leyba
