FILE – Alex Eala celebrates after a match in the Berlin Open. She beat Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina to reach the semifinals. –BERLIN OPEN PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala returned to the top 30 in the WTA rankings ahead of her debut at the Bad Homburg Open on Monday.
Eala jumped five spots to world No. 30 following a blistering campaign in the WTA 500 Berlin Open, where she reached the semifinals. She moved just a spot shy of matching her career-high ranking of No. 29 last March.
READ: Alex Eala riding high ahead of Bad Homburg debut vs Elise Mertens
The 21-year-old Eala looks to continue her giant-slaying ways starting against former world No. 12 Elise Mertens of Belgium in the round of 32 late Monday night.
Beating Mertens could likely pit Eala against four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the second round before a potential quarterfinals duel with French Open champion Mirra Andreeva.
Other top players like Polish world No. 3 and top seed Iga Swiatek and Czech powerhouse Linda Noskova are also in the WTA 500 tournament.
Noskoa, who reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 10, dispatched Eala , 6-2, 6-4, in the Berlin Open semis early Sunday.
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