I find it a joke that Alex Eala is ranked No. 29 in the current WTA standings.<\/p>\n
She should be ranked higher.<\/p>\n
However, I still cannot contest that ranking because the WTA listing is based on points earned by a player from tournaments.<\/p>\n
And each tournament has varying levels of points awarded depending on level of competition. This means that a Grand Slam victory earns a tennis player more points compared to 250 and 125 events.<\/p>\n
This is what the WTA says in its website on points earned by tennis players:<\/p>\n
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By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA player’s ranking is determined by results at a maximum of 18 tournaments for singles and 12 for doubles. Points are awarded based on the level of tournament and a player’s round-by-round progression at that tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n Fair enough?<\/p>\n Looking at the WTA\u2019s explanation, one thing is left out in its scoring system: Quality of opposition.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s say Player A wins the championship of a WTA 1000 event but beats competition mostly ranked below No. 40 with none of them being Grand Slam champions. For sure, Player A will get the most points from the WTA 1000 event because he or she won the title.<\/p>\n However, what if Player B reaches only the quarterfinals but beats two top 10 players before getting beaten by a top 20 player. For sure, Player B will still get less points because he or she did not win the WTA 1000 title.<\/p>\n Now, is that fair?<\/p>\n From where I stand, that is not fair. For one, beating a top 10 player or a Grand Slam champion is harder than beating unheralded opponents enroute to the championship.<\/p>\n So, I think Eala should have gotten additional points in beating current WTA No. 2 and 2026 Australian Open champion Elene Rybakina and and No. 10 and multi-titled Elina Svitolina at Berlin, and defeating defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Grand Slam.<\/p>\n Comparatively speaking, one player from Poland who went on to contend for the French Open 2026 title is higher than Eala, even if she beat only one top 10 player.<\/p>\n So, Eala being ranked at No. 29 looks strange to me at this point, considering her beating Rybakina, Svitolina, and Swiatek in a less four weeks cannot be overlooked.<\/p>\n Yes, read that again \u2013 Eala beat three top 10 players \u2013 two of them Grand Slam champions \u2013 in less than four weeks.<\/p>\n Maybe the WTA should give additional points to players who beats a top 10 player?\u00a0<\/p>\n And how about the unquantifiable impact a tennis player has on the sport?<\/p>\n Am I asking too much? \u2028Perhaps tennis needs another ranking body, like by a top and respected magazine or social media platform devoted to the sport.<\/p>\n One such ranking entity for boxing exists \u2013 The Ring Magazine – which has its own rankings for all divisions and the pound-for-pound (P4P) made up of the best fighters regardless of weight division. Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire at one point of their careers were in The Ring P4P rankings.<\/p>\n However, boxing rankings are not necessarily perfect, including from The Ring Magazine, as they also take into account the views of analysts and boxing writers, who have their own biases.<\/p>\n So, I see a flaw in the current The Ring Magazine rankings, as I believe heavyweight Olyksander Usyk should be ranked at No. 1 and not super bantamweight Naoya Inoue.\u00a0<\/p>\n The international sanctioning bodies of boxing also take into account the quality of opposition a boxer beats. So, a boxer beating an ex-world champion or a highly-ranked prospect will most likely get a higher ranking than a boxer who feasted on cream puffs and tomato cans to compile an impressive record.<\/p>\n Going back to Eala \u2013 I have to accept the fact that she is ranked at No. 29 by the WTA because the leading tennis body\u2019s ranking system is \u2013 it is what it is.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t blame Eala if she eclipses other higher-ranked players because like I said before \u2013 she is rewriting the rules on who gets the spotlight in tennis.<\/p>\n And woe to Eala\u2019s haters and bashers, because they can\u2019t do anything about that.<\/p>\n (end) \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I find it a joke that Alex Eala is ranked No. 29 in the current WTA standings. 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