ALEXANDRA "Alex" Eala slipped two notches down to No. 35 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) official rankings Monday ahead of her 500 Berlin Open campaign.
Eala didn’t lose any points, even adding six following a round of 16 finish at the HSBC Championships last week for a total of 1,422.
Her descent was caused by Donna Vekic and Emma Raducanu making big leaps to No. 31 and 33, respectively, after reaching the final of the just concluded 500 HSBC Championships.
Winning the said tourney as a "lucky loser," Vekic jumped from No. 76 to No. 33 with 1436 points, with a net gain of 503.
The Croatian's 43-notch rise is the highest in this ranking update.
On the other hand, the runner-up Raducanu leaped from No. 42 to 31 with 1,458 with a net gain of 217.
Eala takes on the red-hot Vekic
The Berlin draw on Saturday arranged a duel between Eala and Vekic for the third time.
Eala faces Vekic likely on Tuesday or Wednesday, with a win putting her on a rematch with world No. 2 Elena Rybakina.
Eala will either face a red-hot Vekic or a Vekic still with a championship hangover.
Regardless, Eala needs a win to boost her chances of securing a Wimbledon seed which hit a snag with this latest ranking movement.
Eala needs to make the top 32 in the seeding cutoff on June 22 and a deep Berlin performance will give her just that.
Seeded players get a favorable draw as they face lower-ranked players, qualifiers or wildcards, avoiding early collision with fellow seeded entrants. NIEL VICTOR MASOY
