There’s no stopping Eala’s ascent

MANILA, Philippines — The star continues to rise for the Filipina tennis rock star.

Following a stellar campaign in Abu Dhabi, Alex Eala soared to a new career-high ranking in both singles and doubles of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) leading up to another tour stop in Doha.

Eala reached No. 40 in the singles, up five rungs from No. 45 last week, while also breaking the Top 100 at No. 99 in doubles – thanks to a pair of deep runs in the stacked WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open.

It’s the second straight month of Eala’s steady rise in the WTA ranks, climbing from No. 49 to start the year then No. 45 after a productive stretch in Asia and the Pacific.

Her latest feat was a quarterfinal finish in the Abu Dhabi singles coupled by a doubles Final Four stint with “SEA-ster” Janice Tjen of Indonesia.

That run included a win against the super tandem of Cristina Bucsa (WTA doubles No. 22) and two-time Grand Slam champion Shuai Zhang of China (WTA No. 7), who just came off an Australian Open title run, to reach the semifinals.

Before that, Eala also made a quarterfinal finish in the WTA125 Philippine Women’s Open, her first pro tournament at home, and had a Final Four stint in the WTA250 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

She also gained a few points in a first-round exit in the Australian Open, where she made her main draw debut to complete her appearance in the four majors after previous qualifications in the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

And albeit not counted in the WTA rankings, Eala bagged the exhibition title in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.

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