Tennis: Alex Eala rises to world No. 69

MANILA, May 21 ------ Filipina tennis star Alex Eala rose one spot to No. 69 in the latest rankings released by the WTA. Eala improved her ranking despite an early exit in the Italian Open, having fallen to Marta Kostyuk in the first round. Her partner in the Italian Open doubles, Coco Gauff, is now the world No. 2 after reaching the finals in the singles draw, where she lost to home bet Jasmine Paolini. The Italian, for her part, is now ranked fourth following her 6-4, 6-2 romp over Gauff.  

Aryna Sabalenka remains the top-ranked player in the world, even after a shock 4-6, 3-6 loss to China's Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals in Rome. After a grueling 10-minute opening game with multiple deuce points, Marta Kostyuk broke Alex Eala’s serve and never looked back. The Ukrainian took early control with a 3-0 lead, breaking Eala twice in quick succession. Kostyuk’s dominance continued as she broke Eala for a third time to go up 5-0, then served out the first set with clinical efficiency to win 6-0. Eala, still struggling to find her rhythm, couldn’t contain Kostyuk’s aggressive and well-placed forehands that constantly changed direction and dictated the pace. 

The second set saw no change in momentum as Kostyuk won her eighth consecutive game to take a 2-0 lead, followed by yet another break—the fifth in a row—to go up 3-0. Eala finally managed to hold serve and put herself on the scoreboard at 1-4, drawing cheers from a supportive Filipino crowd in the Rome evening session. But it was too little, too late. Kostyuk held serve to lead 5-1, then broke Eala once more to close out the match, 6-0, 6-1, in just over an hour. 

Eala now exits the Italian Open singles draw but will look to rebound in the doubles competition, where she partners with world No. 3 Coco Gauff. 

Source: news.abs-cbn.com