EALA RISES TO 74TH IN WTA RANKINGS

(UPDATE) ALEX Eala of the Philippines elevated from 77th to 74th at the latest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings released on Monday.

Eala climbed three rungs after entering the main draw of the Eastbourne Open.

Eala, who went as high as 69th in the rankings, is scheduled to face world No. 61 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the opening round on Monday evening.

The 20-year-old Eala defeated world No. 88 Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round of the qualifiers on Saturday.

She went on and outlasted world No. 54 Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the second and final round, 6-7(1), 7-6(4), 6-1, on Sunday.

Prior to the updated WTA rankings, Bronzetti was 59th, Sonmez was 82nd, and Baptiste was 56th.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus remains at the top of the rankings followed by Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula of the United States.

Jasmine Paolini of Italy and Qinwen Zheng of China rounded out the top five netters in the world.

Eala is using the Eastbourne Open as her final buildup towards Wimbledon, where she will make her second Grand Slam appearance and a major debut on the grass court in the tourney set from June 30 to July 13.

Prior to the Eastbourne Open, Eala last saw action at the Nottingham Open where she bowed to Polish Magda Linette, 3-6, 3-6, in the round of 32.

The lefty netter also competed at the Ilkley Open where she exited in the quarterfinals after losing to Rebecca Marino of Canada, 6-1, 0-6, 6-7(4).

2025-06-23T16:16:31Z