By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alex Eala’s continued rise on the global tennis scene, along with her steady climb on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, can be traced to one simple philosophy: strike while the iron is hot.
That made the 21-year-old Eala the busiest player on the WTA Tour after playing 56 games, which include her historic maiden Tour title in the WTA 500 Mubadala D.C. Open in Washington, D.C. that saw her topple five fancied players.
Eala, who holds the world No. 20 spot, competed more than 50 times since the start of the season – which normally fires off Jan. 2 and ends on Nov. 22 – early this year, notching 37 wins and 19 defeats with the most recent coming from a 4-6, 0-6 loss to Swiss Belinda Bencic in Last 16 of the WTA 1000 National Bank Open.
Also her record includes big wins over high-ranked netters in Americans Jessica Pegula (3) and Coco Gauff (4), Polish Iga Swiatek (😎, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (9), and Kazakh Elena Rybakina (2).
That improved Eala’s record against Top 10 players to 9-4 with the last five against the world’s top-ranked players.
Eala made her previous outings more impressive after also beating former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka of Japan, 6-4, 6-2, in the D.C Open semis.
The Southeast Games champion has also beaten all podium finishers in the 2024 Paris Olympics in China’s Zheng Qingwen, Croatian Donna Vekic, and Iga Swiatek.
Eala, who soared in the WTA Finals race where she is currently at No. 14, improved as well her run in the prestigious Wimbledon Championships. There, she reached Round of 16 – marking the best-ever finish in a Grand Slam event by a Filipino in the Open Era.
Aside from Eala, Svitolina (52), Pegula (51), Rybakina (50), Mirra Andreeva (50), and German Tatjana Maria (50) were also having hectic calendars. She even outworked No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (45).
The number of matches Eala played increased as she gained access to Challenger-level tournaments, particularly WTA 125 events, which are designed primarily for lower-ranked players and generally restrict Top 10 players from entering.
Among the WTA 125 tournaments she competed in were the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open and the Birmingham Open, where the 5-foot-9 Filipina captured her second WTA 125 title.
The charming lefty is currently preparing for her upcoming campaign as No. 17 seeded – her best seed in her career so far – in the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio this week.
