Eala earns P389K for reaching São Paulo Open QF

(UPDATE) FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala may have bowed out of the São Paulo Open in Brazil but she still secured a solid paycheck.

Eala, who lost to Indonesian Janice Tjen, 4-6, 1-6, in the quarterfinals early Saturday in Manila, bagged $6,820 or more than P389K for reaching the last eight of the 250-tier tourney.

The 20-year-old also gained 54 ranking points to bump her total to 1,083.

However, the live rankings showed only a +29 increase for her new points, replacing her 16th previous best which was likely 25.

The WTA ranking system is based on a player’s best 16 tournaments over a rolling 52-week (one-year) period.

Once a tournament is over a year old, its points drop off and are replaced by new points from a player’s recent events.

In Eala’s case, the fresh 54 points she gained replaced about 25 from a year ago and thus the net increase of only 29 ranking points.

These new points catapulted Eala from 61st to a career-best 55th in the live rankings.

Eala, whose previous career-high rank was 56th, will officially occupy that place on Monday once the WTA came up with its latest official rankings.

Eala reached the São Paulo Open quarterfinals after defeating French Yasmine Mansouri, 6-0, 6-2, in the opener and Argentine Julia Riera, 6-1, 6-4, in the second round.

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