MANILA, Philippines — Alexandra 'Alex' Eala moved up to a new career-best 49th in the latest official Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on Monday.
The Filipino netter topped her previous high by a notch and climbed four notches higher than her last week's ranking of 53rd.
Eala is coming off to a semifinal finish at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, falling to Chinese Wang Xinyu, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, last Saturday.
Finishing as a runner-up, Wang improved from 57th to 43rd in the rankings.
Eala claimed 98 ranking points (83 net gain) for her semis finish for a total of 1159.
Before her semis defeat, Eala topped Croatian Donna Vekic in the round of 32, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; another Croatian Petra Marcinko in the round of 16, 6-0, 6-2, and Polish Magda Linette in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-2.
The 20-year-old also made a semifinal finish in the doubles category with American partner Iva Jovic.
Eala and Jovic yielded to Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan in the semis, 5-7, 3-6, last Friday.
"I just want to thank every single one of you for your support, taking the time and effort out of your day to be there and cheer me on with the other girls," said Eala in a Facebook video by ASB Classic.
"It means so much especially at this time of the year. I couldn't thank you more and I had such a fun time playing here in Auckland and I hope I can be back next year."
Eala is set to compete in an exhibition at the Kooyong Classic set from January 13 to 15 in Melbourne.
The 5-foot-9 netter will then make her main draw debut at the Australian Open on Jan. 18.