Eala is the highest-ranked Filipino female singles player in WTA Tour history
Eala was the No. 2-ranked ITF junior on 6 October 2020.[1] She has a career-high singles ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) of 214, achieved on 31 October 2022.
Eala is the highest-ranked Filipino female singles player in WTA Tour history, surpassing Maricris Gentz, who peaked at No. 284 on 18 October 1999.[2] Eala won her first junior singles title at the 2022 US Open, making her the first Filipino player to win a junior Grand Slam singles title.
Her mother Rosemarie “Rizza” Maniego-Eala is a 1985 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist in the 100-meter backstroke and currently serves as the chief financial officer of Globe Telecom. She is the niece of Philippine Sports Commission chairperson and former Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Noli Eala.
Her brother, Michael (Miko), plays tennis for the Pennsylvania State University.[3] She has been a student of the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Manacor (Mallorca, Spain), since she was 12 years old.
2018
At the age of 12, Eala won the 2018 Les Petit As 14-and-under tournament, beating Linda Nosková in the finals.[5] She made her junior Grand Slam debut at the 2019 US Open.[6] She was named the 2019 Milo Junior Athlete of the Year.
2020: First junior doubles title
Eala won the 2020 Australian girls’ doubles event, partnering Priska Madelyn Nugroho. They defeated Živa Falkner and Matilda Mutavdzic in the final.
Eala peaked in the junior rankings at No. 2, after reaching the semifinals at the 2020 French Open girls’ singles competition.
2021: Second junior doubles title
Eala paid tribute to her roots on Independence Day following another major triumph, this time on the clay court in Paris. Eala and her Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva captured the French Open girls’ doubles title Saturday. They were the top seeds in the tournament, won after knocking out Maria Bondarenko of Russia and Amarissa Kiara Tóth of Hungary, 6–0, 7–5, in the final.
2022: First junior Grand Slam singles title
On September 11, 2022, Eala became the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam singles championship and the only Filipino with multiple junior Grand Slam titles. She defeated the No. 2 seed, Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic, 6–2, 6–4, at the girls’ singles final of the 2022 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.[11
