By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala has improved her singles ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) by 12 rungs, and so is her standing in doubles following a glorious twinkill in Spain over the weekend.
From No. 155, Eala, 19, leapfrogged to No. 143 – her career-best – after ruling the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament.
But it was in doubles where she made huge leap, rising from No. 245 to 208.
Her latest feats were her biggest victories to date, having won her first four ITF singles titles in W25 and W15 events.
What was more impressive was Eala’s sudden rise in the doubles, as she won all her three titles just this year including the last two against the same partner in Frenchwoman Estelle Cascino.
“This win means the world to me, it even made me ugly cry,” said Eala on social media moments after her singles victory against former junior world No. 1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra, 6-4, 6-4.
She and Cascino claimed the doubles crown at the expense of Bulgaria’s Lia Karatancheva and Latvia’s Diana Marcinkevica, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
Eala tries to sustain her momentum when she competes in the Polish Open that started Tuesday, July 23, in Warsaw.
She is seeded fourth in the $125,000 WTA event and is playing Isabella Shinikova of Bulgaria in the opening round at press time.
Eala and Latvian Darja Semenistaja, meanwhile, are also competing in the doubles and are up against Polish second seed Martyna Kubka and Weronika Falkowska.
It can be recalled that Eala clinched her first ITF doubles title with Semenistaja at the W50 Pune in India last January.
