By
Alex Eala is set to become the first woman from the Philippines to compete in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam, as she prepares for the French Open.
The rising star's incredible run at the Miami Open helped her to first break into the top 100 and then the top 75 of the WTA Rankings and she has now been richly rewarded.
Eala currently sits at a career-high No 72 with her surge coming on the back of her semi-final appearance at the WTA 1000 event where she beat three Grand Slam winners.
That position is good enough for a direct entry into this year's French Open as Roland Garros organisers have confirmed that the top 100 players in the rankings will enter the tournament.
After beating reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys at Miami, Eala said: "Growing up, it was tough. You didn't have anyone from where you're from to pave the way. Of course, you had many people to look up to around the world, but I hope this takes Filipino tennis to the next step."
And she has certainly taken Filipino tennis to the next step.
It is an incredible achievement for the 19-year-old as she becomes the first Filipina to make the main draw of a major. She is already the highest-ranked player from her country in the WTA Rankings as she surpassed Maricris Gentz, who peaked at No 284, in 2022.
There is further good news for the teenager as she is on the verge of breaking into the top 60 as she has climbed two more places to No 70 after reaching the last 16 of the WTA 125K Oeiras Ladies Open.
Another win at the Portugal tournament will see Eala move up to No 69 while a title run could see her jump as high as No 59.
And there is potential to move even higher in the rankings in the coming weeks as she is scheduled to play in two more WTA 1000 events as she has been handed a wildcard entry into the Madrid Open main draw.
She just missed the direct cutoff for the Italian Open, but a wildcard is expected to follow while she could also take part in qualifiers.
But for now, Eala's maiden entry into a Grand Slam is confirmed as she will go one better than in 2024 when she fell at the last hurdle in qualifying at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Although Eala is the first woman from the Philippines to qualify for a major, she is the fifth player - man or woman - to make it to the main draw of a Grand Slam as she followed in the footsteps of Felicisimo Ampon, Raymundo Deyro, Cecil Mamiit and Treat Huey.
The youngster, though, is the only player from the Southeast Asian country to win a Grand Slam Junior singles as she lifted the US Open Girls' singles trophy in 2022 while she also won the Girls' doubles title at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 French Open.
