Alex Eala achieves highest-ever ranking
Filipino tennis sensation moves up four spots to No 28
Alexandra Eala is back, and how!
After a lean clay season that saw her ranking plummet to now unfamiliar territory, the Filipino tennis sensation has just reached her highest-ever ranking following her storming run into Wimbledon Round of 16 where she lost to Jasmine Paolini.
Her victory over defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round was one of the biggest upsets of the tournament and thanks to that and her semi-final run in Berlin, where she lost to new Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the 21-year-old is now ranked No 28 in the world, moving up four spots.
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Eala, who lost in the first round a year ago on her Wimbledon debut, became the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era.
In dissecting her loss to Paolini, Eala pointed to a seemingly perennial problem, her serve.
" I have days like that. Everyone has days where they don't play their best tennis," said Eala, who trained at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy in Spain as a teenager. "I understand that's part of the job. I don't think I'm going to be playing the best tennis of my life every single day.
"With that being said," she added, "I'm really proud of how I handled things. I just have to kind of move forward and continue with my progress."
Eala, who made a breakthrough in March 2025 by reaching the Miami Open semi-finals, has elevated her stardom at Wimbledon, both on and off the court. She met Kate, the princess of Wales, and even took a photo with her.
Up next for the Filipino superstar is the Mubadala DC Open, a WTA 500 event in Washington DC, scheduled to run from July 27 to August 6.
