Qatar Open exit hurts Eala’s ranking

Alex Eala’s Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking is expected to take a dip following her early exit in the Qatar Open last Monday.

From a career-best No. 40, the 20-year-old Filipina sensation is expected to fall to No. 43 when all the scores in the WTA events have been turned in.

Eala suffeed a major disaster when she lost to Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic, 6-7, 1-6, in the first round of the Qatar Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Centre in Doha.

WTA champions and Grand Slam heavyweights like world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States, No. 30 Maya Joint of Australia and No. 14 Clara Tauson of Denmark all suffered early exits in this prestigious WTA 1000 tournament.

The Rafael Nadal Academy alumna is currently resting as she prepares for the Dubai Tennis Championships on 15 February at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in the United Arab Emirates.

Her Dubai stint will be the last stop in the Middle East before flying to the United States for the BNP Paribas Open on 4 March.

It will be her debut in what is dubbed “The Fifth Grand Slam” as names such as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and defending champion Mirra Andreeva are set to see action.

Eala will also compete in the Miami Open this year, the same tournament where she broke through last year after beating three Grand Slam champions on her way to the semifinals.

Unlike last year, however, Eala won’t have the element of surprise on her side as she has been competing against high-level players for over a year with a massive media following.