By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alex Eala got a big boost prior to her campaign in the Italian Open this week as she moved up from No. 44 to No. 42 in the latest WTA rankings.
The continued rise of the 20-year-old Eala was a pleasant news considering that she suffered early exit to kick off her clay court campaign.
Still, Eala managed to pile up 1,285 points, which proved enough to jump two rungs higher.
She failed to get past the second round of the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain after losing to Belgian Elise Mertens, 2-6, 1-6. Her partnership with Turkish Zeynep Sonmez also bombed out early.
Eala then begged off from competing the WTA 125 Catalonia Open to focus on her Italian joust that has a star-studded field, including reigning champion and hometown bet Jasmine Paolini, world No. 1 Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Kazakh No. 2 Elena Rybakina, No. 3 Polish Iga Swiatek, and No. 4 American and last year’s bridesmaid Coco Gauff.
