She may have missed booking a finals stint at the 2020 French Open but the future still looked bright for Pinay teen tennis sensation Alex Eala.
Despite not reaching the finals of one of tennis’ most prestigious events, Eala still achieved something no other Filipino tennis player has ever done before–being the No. 2-ranked tennis player in the world.
This is according to the latest rankings issued by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) published here: https://www.itftennis.com/en/rankings/world-tennis-tour-junior-rankings/
Reaching the semifinals of the French Open was already a big milestone for the young tennis player, but her recent run to the semis meant further improvement in her world ranking.
From No. 4, Eala gathered enough points to move two spots. She earned a total of 430 points to up her total to 2,148.75. She now outranks former World No. 1 Victoria Kasintseva of Andorra, and former No. 2 and No. 3 players Diane Parry of France and Ukraine’s Daria Snigur, respectively.
Moving up to No. 1 was Elsa Jacquemot, Eala’s opponent at the semifinal round, who went on to win the French Open title.
Her semifinal stint was also historic, where Eala became the first Filipino in 35 years to reach the semifinal of any Grand Slam tournament. The last who did the trick was Felix Barrientos, who reached the semis during the 1985 Wimbledon.
(Photo credit: pna.gov.ph)