MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala has reached a new milestone in her tennis career, climbing to a career-high ranking of No. 38 in the WTA live rankings.
This jump comes after her impressive performance at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Open, where she advanced to the quarterfinals.
Eala pulled off a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) comeback win over Belarus' Allaksandra Sasnovich to advance to the next round of the WTA 500 tournament early Thursday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Eala rallied from a 2-5 deficit in the third set to stifle Sasnovich's charge in a match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes.
Eala will face second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the quarterfinals, who defeated Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-0. TMT