MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala cracked the top 30 of the official Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, rising to a new career-best 29th Monday morning in Manila.
Eala, whose previous career-high was 31st, leaped three places from her 32nd rank last week.
The 20-year-old sports her new ranking just slightly ahead of her round of 32 clash against world No. 4 Coco Gauff at the Indian Wells Monday morning.
Eala defeated Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in her tournament debut last Saturday, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, in the round of 64 to set up a rematch against the American Gauff.
Gauff topped Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in their round of 64 encounter.
Gauff defeated Eala, 6-0, 6-2, at the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals nearly three weeks ago.