Alex Eala rises to new career-best in WTA rankings

Filipino tennis player Alex Eala. –ALEX EALA FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala set a new career-best Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking, rising to World No.180 on Monday.

From World No. 188 last week, Eala moved eight notches higher to surpass her previous best ranking of No.184 last January 29.

The 18-year-old Filipino recently played in the quarterfinal of W75 Porto in Portugal, falling to Hungary’s Anna Bondar, 4-6, 7-6, 1-6 on Friday.

She also competed in the doubles but had a quarterfinal exit with partner Ali Collin of Great Britain with a 3-6, 4-6 loss to Alicia Barnett and Anna-Len Friedsam.

Eala, who won her first International Tennis Federation (ITF) doubles title as a pro in the W50 Pune in India last January,  is gunning for her first singles title this year and fifth overall as she competes in the W50 Trnava in Slovakia this week.

The Rafael Nadal Academy graduate battles No.2 seed Bondar anew in the first round of the $50,000 tournament in Slovenia on Wednesday (Manila time).

Eala will also see action in the doubles with her partner Zeynep Somnez of Turkey as they take on China’s Tang Qianhui and Chinese Taipei’s Liang En Shuo in the opening round.