Alex Eala soars to career-high world No 18

Alexandra Eala’s win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open on Saturday was hardly a surprise, notwithstanding the fact that the Romanian was forced to give up while trailing 6-1, 3-0 in their Round of 64 match.

Also not surprising is the fact that Eala is now at a career-high ranking of world No 18, moving up two places from her previous high of No 20.

For the Filipina sensation, who has now made going deep into every tournament a routine affair, her second-round win got her a Round of 32 clash against her favourite kind of opponent, a top-10 player in Amanda Anisimova.

Eala, who holds a 9-4 record against top-10 opponents including five straight wins, will be no pushover against the formidable American, especially given the fact that the 21-year-old has only got 125 ranking points to protect till the end of the season.

So every win from now on is only going to push her ranking higher as the season goes on.

There has been a lot of talk about how Eala’s relatively weak serve has been hindering her rise beyond a point, but now it has emerged that it is the same serve that is causing problems for her higher-ranked opponents. For top players like Iga Swiatek, who Eala beat at Wimbledon and Jessica Pegula, who she beat to win the Mubadala DC Open, the lack of pace on her serve has caused them serious timing issues. Eala has now managed to add variations on her serve with more spin and depth and being a left-hander, her serve away from the backhand is also harder to negotiate.

Eala’s return game or groundstrokes have never been in question and neither has been her resilience on court. And with a top-10 ranking by the end of the year now a distant possibility, a few more strong results could even see her gatecrash the WTA Finals party.

All that, however, is still some way off and for now, WTA’s brightest star will be looking to upset the two-time Grand Slam finalist come Monday.