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Alexandra Eala continues to rewrite Philippine tennis history. After becoming the first woman from her country to crack the Top 100 earlier this year, the 20-year-old has now become the first Filipina inside the Top 50 of the WTA rankings.
Eala has climbed from No. 51 to No. 50 this week following her performance at the Hong Kong Open, where she reached the second round. Her game nearly took her further, as she was up 4-1 in the third set against close friend Victoria Mboko before eventually falling, 3-6 6-3 6-4. Canada’s Mboko went on to capture the title and secure her own Top 20 debut.
Despite the loss, Eala’s Hong Kong result was enough to push her into the Top 50, capping off a season filled with firsts and remarkable progress.
Earlier this year in Miami, Eala made another historic breakthrough by becoming the first Filipina ever to reach the semifinals of a WTA event, and it happened at a WTA 1000 tournament, one of the sport’s biggest stages. At that prestigious event, she also became the first player from the Philippines to defeat a Top 30 opponent, achieving it three times, including two remarkable victories over Top 5 stars Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. That sensational run propelled her to No. 75 in the world and made her the first Filipina to break into the WTA Top 100.
Her rise continued on the grass courts of Eastbourne, where she became the first woman from the Philippines to contest a WTA final. Eala came within a few points of lifting the trophy before falling to Australia’s Maya Joint in a thrilling 6-4 1-6 7-6(10) showdown, despite holding four match points.
She carried that momentum into New York, where she once again broke new ground. At the US Open, Eala earned her country’s first women’s main-draw victory at a Grand Slam in the Open Era, outlasting Denmark’s in-form Clara Tauson, 6-3 2-6 7-6(11). The win marked her fourth Top 20 triumph of the year. (source: Tennis.com)
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