ALEX EALA reached a new career-best ranking in world tennis ahead of three big tournaments bannered by the French Open next month in the aftermath of her stunning Miami Open run.
Despite her inactivity in the past week, Ms. Eala rose from No. 75 to No. 73 with 894 points in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, thanks to a semifinal finish in the WTA 1000 tourney in Miami late last month.
She’s the first-ever Filipina player to barge into the world’s elite Top 100 rankings, jumping from world No. 140 before the Miami tourney, where she fell just short against world No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States, 6(3)-7, 7-5, 6-3, for a seat in the finale.
Still, the 19-year-old wunderkind had one of the best runs in tennis history after becoming the first Filipina WTA semifinalist and the first to beat three Grand Slam champions, including two Top-5 players.
Ms. Eala was also the second wildcard to defeat three or more Grand Slam champions in a single tour-level event after Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) at the Wimbledon 2023 as well as the third wildcard semifinalist after Justine Henin (Belgium) in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) in 2018.
Before Miami, her previous career-high was at No. 134 following a similar semis stint in Workday Canberra International in Australia earlier this year that served as her warm-up for the Australian Open.
Ms. Eala got to play only in the qualification round of the Australian Open as a wildcard and had an early exit but by making it inside the Top 100, she will now have direct invites in WTA majors and Grand Slams starting in the clay season of the Roland Garros on May 25 to June 8 in Paris.
But before that, Ms. Eala will troop to Portugal for the Oeiras Ladies Open, a WTA 125 tilt, on April 14 to 20, and the Mutua Madrid Open, a WTA Tour 1000 event, in Spain from April 22 to May 4.
Ms. Eala will play in a few more warm-up tourneys before slugging it out against the world’s heavyweights anew in the French Open, where she was a former girls’ doubles champion.
World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, whom Ms. Eala beat in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, is the reigning French Open titlist.
After Paris, Ms. Eala is expected to play in two more majors in the Wimbledon and the US Open, where she’s also a girls’ singles champion. — John Bryan Ulanday
