MANILA — Fresh off a breakthrough championship campaign in England, Alexandra Eala climbed to a career-near World No. 33 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, moving within striking distance of a coveted seeded spot in next month’s Wimbledon Championships.
The 21-year-old Filipina gained 125 ranking points after capturing the 2026 WTA Lexus Birmingham Classic WTA 125 title, the biggest trophy of her season and the first championship by a Filipino player in the tournament’s history.
The ranking jump brought Eala closer to her career-best No. 29 position while significantly boosting her chances of entering Wimbledon as one of the tournament’s 32 seeded players.
In addition to the ranking points, Eala pocketed $33,650 (more than P2 million) in prize money from her title-winning campaign.
Eala secured the crown after outlasting Czech teenager Nikola Bartunkova in a dramatic three-set final, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, completing a memorable week on the grass courts of Birmingham.
The victory carried extra significance for the Filipina star as it snapped a long-standing struggle against Czech opponents. Prior to defeating Bartunkova, Eala had suffered 12 consecutive losses against players from the Czech Republic dating back to 2020.
Her Birmingham triumph also added her name to the tournament’s distinguished roster of champions and marked her first title of the 2026 season.
Despite the milestone victory, Eala has little time to celebrate as she continues her grass-court campaign. She is set to face China’s Shuai Zhang in the opening round of the HSBC Championships as she pursues additional ranking points ahead of Wimbledon.
Eala remains focused on breaking into the Top 32 before the June 22 rankings cutoff, which would guarantee her a seeded berth in the year’s third Grand Slam event.
The Birmingham title provided a timely confidence boost and strengthened her momentum as she prepares for one of the most important stretches of her young professional career./PN
