THANKS largely to her first-round win in the main draw of the US Open women’s singles event and her title-clinching win in the just-concluded Abierto Zapopan Open in Zapopan, Mexico, Alex Eala vaulted 14 spots to No. 61 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association world ratings released yesterday.
Eala bagged her first WTA 125 title, also her maiden championship on the WTA pro tour, by storming back from a first-set loss to surge past Hungary’s Panna Udvardy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and earn 125 ranking points.
She also picked up points when she upset world No. 14 Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) in her opening US Open singles match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, nearly two weeks ago.
Just one spot below her at No. 62 was Spain’s Cristina Busca, who outplayed the Filipina left-hander 6-4, 6-3 in the US Open second round.
Those results propelled Eala from her previous rank of No. 75 and close to her all-time high of No. 56, an accomplishment that should drive her to do well as she competes as the No. 3 seed in the Sao Paulo Open at the Parque Villalobos in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which opened yesterday (today in Manila).
The top seed in the event is Brazilian veteran Beatriz Haddad Maia, 29, ranked world No. 22, who hopes to leverage her hometown edge in pursuit of her fifth WTA Tour title, according to the website tennis365.com.
The No. 2 seed is Argentine Solana Sierra (No. 82) in the WTA 250 tourney offering WTA 250 points plus a championship purse of $36,600 (around P2.064 million).
“The Filipina faces a qualifier in her opening round, and — assuming she wins — would then face (Argentina’s) Julia Riera (No. 88) or (Russia’s) Vitalia Diatchenko (No. 387) in round two,” the website reported.
