Politixia
The Philippines’ Alex Eala has risen to a career-high No 18 in the WTA rankings, making her the highest-ranked woman from Southeast Asia in tennis history.
Eala, 21, surpassed the previous record of No 19 jointly held by Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn.
The Filipina is set to take part in the singles and mixed doubles at the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year.
She will team up with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the mixed doubles on Tuesday. They face the husband-and-wife team of Gael Monfils of France and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
The winner will advance to face either top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic or Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe.
Eala has enjoyed another successful season, winning two singles titles: the Birmingham Open in June and the Mubadala DC Open in August. Her win at Birmingham made her the first Filipino player in history to win a WTA title.
Her best performance at this year’s Grand Slams was a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, which included a victory over defending champion Iga Swiatek.
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