After Ila, the world number eight player is Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Alexandra “Alex” Ila defeated world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, overcoming world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 0-1, following American opponent Hailey Baptiste's injury retirement following American rival Hailey Baptiste's retirement in Round 1 of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday morning.
Ms Ella, who slipped to 47th in this week's Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, escaped with a round of 64 win as Ms Baptiste missed the rest of the match with stomach pain early in the second set.
The 20-year-old Filipina sensation laid the foundation for her victory after a 4-1 finishing kick following a 3-all score in the first set.
Ms Baptiste broke serve in the second in what was seen as retaliation, forcing an arbiter to forfeit as Ms Ella won in 57 minutes.
Although Ms Ella didn't want it any way, it turned out to be a come-from-behind victory for her after a 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 6-1 comeback win against then top-ranked Ms Baptiste in the qualifiers at the Eastbourne Open, where she reached her first WTA final and defeated Australia's Maya Joint 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (10-12) in an epic marathon. Closing.
Ms. Baptiste, 24, was once again the No. 1 seed in the Dubai Qualifier and won 6-4, 6-4 against Chinese Shuai Zhang (WTA No. 86), giving Ms. Ella a chance at the main draw, but to no avail.
“Obviously, no one likes to have to go through this, being on tour I'm really starting to know at this stage how different it is to maintaining your health physically. I really hope Hailey is okay and bounces back soon,” Ms Ella said.
Following Ms Ella in the round of 32 is multi-titled Ms Paolini, who received a first-round bye as the No. 6 seed after four majors at the 1000-level tournament.
Ms Paolini, 30, a gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics with compatriot Sara Errani, has claimed several milestones more than the young Filipina pride to make herself a heavy favorite in the duel for a seat in the last four. In addition to reaching a career-high No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Ms. Paolini was a two-time Grand Slam singles finalist, losing the doubles championship at the 2025 French Open.
That should be enough warning as to how high of a hill Ms Ella will have to climb to book a ticket to the Round of 16 against WTA No. 14 Linda Noskova of Czechia or the winner between Romania's Sorana Cristea (No. 32) and Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus (No. 113).
Ms Ella, who is assured $26,000 and 65 points, is set to gain more ranking points to maintain her place in the top 50 after falling seven places this week.
The lefty ace went into free fall after a first round exit at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open last week.
Earlier, Ms. Ella made the semi-finals at the WTA 250 ASB Classic in New Zealand on top of quarterfinal pairings at the WTA 125 Philippine Women's Open and WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open for her first domestic tournament, where she also reached the last four of the doubles with Indonesian partner Janice Teigen.
She also made appearances in all four major main draws following her debut at the Australian Open in Melbourne last month, where she also captured the exhibition crown at the Kooyong Classic. — John Brian Ulande