MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala fell one spot in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings following her return to juniors play at Wimbledon last week.
The 16-year-old Filipina slipped to No. 630 from No. 629 before her trip to London, where she played on grass court for the first time in her young career.
Eala, the world juniors No. 3, settled for a decent second-round finish in her Wimbledon girls’ singles debut after a 6-3, 4-6, 5-7 loss to Spain’s Ane Mintegi Del Olmo.
Partnering with Indonesian pal Priska Madelyn Nugroho, she also exited in the second round of the doubles play following a 4-6, 6-4, 9-11 defeat to Switzerland’s Chelsea Fontenel and Ashlyn Krueger of the United States.
This tough Wimbledon elimination derailed Eala’s mission to capture her third doubles and first singles Grand Slam title.
Eala and Nugroho won the 2020 Australian Open.