ALEX Eala slightly slid down in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings without any event in the past two weeks.
From a career-high of No. 214 to start the month, Ms. Eala dropped to No. 221 this week as she continued to embark on a much-needed break after consecutive campaigns in the United States and Europe.
Ms. Eala’s last event was in W100 Shrewsbury in Great Britain, where she fell short in the qualifiers. The 17-year old Filipina zeroed in on the Top-200 rankings earlier this month after a stellar run in Europe highlighted by a breakthrough semifinal finish in the elite W80 Poitiers in France.
A scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy, Ms. Eala is a winner of two pro titles in Spain and Thailand with hopes of winning more as she opted to focus more in the women’s circuit.
In her lone juniors tourney this year so far, Ms. Eala still stamped her class by winning the US Open junior championships to become the first Filipina singles Grand Slam champion aside from doubles titles in the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open. — John Bryan Ulanday