MANILA, Philippines — Banking on a historic Wimbledon run, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala surged four spots to a new career-high rank of No. 28 in the latest WTA rankings on Monday.
As the first Filipino singles player to make the fourth round of the London major grass tournament, Eala gained 240 ranking points (230 net gain) to boost her total to 1,666.
Eala owns identical total ranking points as No. 27 Anastasia Potapova but sits behind the Russian-born Austrian netter due to inferior tiebreak points.
The WTA's primary tiebreak criterion is the points earned by players from the past four Grand Slams and 10 1000-tier tournaments.
Eala, whose previous career-high rank was No. 29 last March, accumulated 905 points only while Potapova gained 1,015 and thus won the tiebreaker for the higher ranking place.
Meanwhile, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka continues to lead the rankings with 8,550 points followed by Kazakh Elena Rybakina (8,143), Americans Jessica Pegula (6,301) and Coco Gauff (5,649), and Russian Mirra Andreeva (5,293).
Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova followed with a new career-best No. 6 (5,168) while her final tormentor and compatriot Linda Noskova (5,119) likewise elevated to a new career-high at No. 7.
Polish Iga Swiatek (4,539), Amanda Anisimova (4,353), and Ukranian Elina Svitolina (4,351) round out the top 10.
Homecoming
After a short vacation in Europe, Eala returned to the Philippines on Sunday noon.
Officials from the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) as well as a group of young Filipino athletes and a slew of fans welcomed Eala at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
Accompanied by Philta secretary general and Navotas mayor John Rey Tiangco, PSC chairman Patrick "Pato" Gregorio, and POC president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, Eala's warm welcome also included a performance from Banda Kawayan Pilipinas.
This is Eala's first stay in Manila since the Philippine Women's Open last January.
Eala will hold a meet-and-greet activity for her fans at the Glorietta Activity Center on Wednesday.
