Alex Eala now highest ranked female SEA tennister ever

Alex Eala is now the highest-ranked female tennis player ever from Southeast Asia. AFP (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASAY—Alex Eala just cemented her status as Southeast Asia's new trailblazer in tennis, becoming the highest-ranked female player ever from the region.

The WTA officially moved the Filipina superstar up two notches to number 18 in the world following the results of the Toronto and Cincinnati Opens.

Eala's new peak bettered those of tennis legends Yayuk Basuki and Tamarine Tanasugarn, who both starred during the late 90s and early 2000s.

Both Basuki and Tanasugarn reached their career-best 19th place in the WTA rankings on different occasions five years apart.

Basuki, a former six-time WTA Tour champion from Indonesia, made it to number 19 in 1997, while Tanasugarn, who won four while representing Thailand, peaked at the same position in 2002.

Both Basuki and Tanasugarn made it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon during their prime years.

Eala made history as the first Southeast Asian female tennis player to win a WTA 500 event when she captured the championship in the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, DC.

While she suffered early exits in Toronto and Cincinnati, Eala racked up enough points to move up to her new career-high world number 18 rank.

Opting not to join the Monterrey Open, Eala is now in New York City ahead of next week's US Open, where she is expected to be seeded in the first round.

A deep run in the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, plus solid runs in her next WTA Tour events for the year, could draw her closer to the highest rank ever achieved by a Southeast Asian tennis player, which was when Thai tennis legend Paradorn Srichaphan reached ninth in the ATP rankings in 2003.