Alex Eala climbs to career-high No. 18 ahead of US Open

Alexandra Eala has reached another historic milestone in her flourishing career, climbing to a career-high No. 18 in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday.

The 20-year-old Filipina star moved up two places from No. 20, collecting 2,281 ranking points ahead of the US Open, where she is expected to earn a seeding in the women’s singles draw.

Eala’s rise comes after an impressive North American hard-court swing. Following her historic run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, Eala returned to hard courts and captured the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open, defeating several top-ranked players, including Jessica Pegula in the final.

She followed that title run with a Round of 16 appearance at the Canadian Open before reaching the Round of 32 at the Cincinnati Open, with both tournaments part of the WTA 1000 series.

Her latest ranking also made Eala the highest-ranked female player from Southeast Asia in tennis history, surpassing the previous mark of No. 19 shared by Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Basuki reached No. 19 in October 1997, the same year she advanced to the Wimbledon quarter-finals and the second round of the US Open. She retired in 2013.

Focus on US Open

Tanasugarn matched Basuki’s career-high ranking in May 2002. The Thai star, who reached the French Open quarter-finals in 2008, won four singles and eight doubles titles before retiring in 2020.

Eala will now turn her attention to the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, where she will compete in both singles and mixed doubles.

She will begin her campaign in mixed doubles alongside Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, with the pair set to face married couple Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina in the opening round.