Jessica Agra secured the No. 1 spot in the latest Asia Pacific Padel Tour (APPT) women's rankings.
The lawyer tallied 2980 points after a runner-up finish at the Bali Open in Indonesia two weeks ago.
She and her Spanish partner Maria Mayoral Estrada lost to Kazakhstan’s Albina Khabibulina and Portugal's Constanza Kokorelis, 3-6, 3-6.
Estrada and compatriot Patricia Garcia, and Kokorelis garnered 2600 points to share second place, while Gumulya siblings Beatrice and Sandy of Indonesia are fifth and sixth, respectively.
Chifumi Sato of Japan (1500) is seventh, followed by Kim Ben Attar of France (1440), while Japan's Yoshino Kushima and Indonesians Komang Sri Maryati and Karyn Esmeraldo are tied for ninth place with 1200 points.
"I have been working hard to improve on my game and to perform better in the APPT tournaments and it feels great to finally see the Philippine flag at the top of the recently released rankings of the APPT," Agra, 32, said in an interview on Monday.
"I know I still have a long way to go but I am proud of this achievement. I am just excited to be able to represent the Philippines again," added the law graduate from Ateneo.
Agra rose to No. 2 (behind Garcia) in May from No. 6 after winning her first title in the tour last month, teaming up with Beatrice Gumulya to beat Chinese pair Michelle Wu and Zhaiya Chaiu, 6-0, 6-4, at the Phuket Open in Thailand on May 12.
She reached the semifinal of the Hong Kong Grandslam women's Open category with compatriot Jessica Lucas.
Agra, a former top junior tennis player with three ITF doubles titles, also reached the semifinal of the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh last March with Kazakhstan's Dasha Berezhnaya.
Agra's other title victories were the APPT Vietnam Open (mixed pro), MartinX Academy's Tournament Open, 4th Philippine National Padel (mixed open), 2nd Philippine National Padel (women's open) and 1st Play Padel Open (women's open).
Other legs in the APPT this year will be held in Singapore; Tokyo; Japan; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. PNA
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