Eala rises to No. 4 in world rankings

MANILA, Philippines — Filipina teen ace Alex Eala continues her rise in the international stage as the newly-minted Australian Open juniors titlist catapulted to fourth in the latest International Tennis Federation world rankings.

Eala, who entered the season-opening grand slam netfest at world No. 8, jumped four spots following her triumph in the girls’ doubles with Indonesian Priska Nugroho and a Round-of-16 appearance in the singles play in Melbourne.

The 14-year-old scholar at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain netted 750 ranking points for her doubles feat and 180 in the singles to log 1,718.75 – good for No. 4 behind top-ranked Dianne Parry of France (2,356.25), newly-crowned Austrailian Open singles champ Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra (1971.25) and 2019 Wimbledon winner Daria Snigur of Ukraine (1,930).

Eala became the first Pinay junior netter to win a grand slam crown, striking gold 11 years after Francis Casey Alcantara reigned supreme over in boys’ doubles also in Australia.

She said she hopes to inspire youngsters to dream big and strive like she did.

“I hope a lot of younger kids see me as an inspiration because I did also come from where they are now.

“I didn’t start big. I also came from local tournament in Palawan or just here in Manila, slowly going into the international stage,” she said.

Eala is set to return to Mallorca, Spain to continue her studies and training.

She’s eyeing to compete in a $25,000 WTA tournament next month prior to plunging into action in the next major, the French Open juniors.

“I’m very proud to be a Filipina, to represent my country especially in a sport where not a lot of Filipinos are present,” she said. “Now I want people to see the Philippines has a lot of potential for high-level tennis.”