Alex Eala soars to career-high No. 51 in WTA singles rankings

Alex Eala soared to a career-high No. 51 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings as she seeks to end a series of early exits when she competes at the Hong Kong Open starting this week.

The 20-year-old Filipina tennis sensation jumped two notches from her previous best of No. 53 despite a first-round loss to American qualifier Claire Liu at the Guangzhou Open in China last week.

She has yet to follow up her breakthrough WTA singles title victory at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico last September after also losing in the first round of the Japan Open and the first qualifying round at the Wuhan Open this month.

At the Hong Kong tournament -- a WTA250 event -- Eala clashes with Katie Boulter in the opening round set Tuesday, Oct. 28.

This would be the first time the two players would meet in a WTA tournament.

Although Boulter is ranked lower than Eala at No. 79, the 29-year-old British standout boasts of three WTA Tour titles. She also won a WTA Challenger crown last May at the Clarins Open in France.

Boulter also ranked as high as No. 23 in her career.

Prior to her singles match, Eala currently competes in the doubles with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-Ching in the opening round against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Kamilla Rakhimova.

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