Alexandra Eala’s ascension to the apex of the WTA Tour has been meteoric and hugely entertaining, bringing a brand-new audience in touch with the sport.
Tennis has so much to thank this 21-year-old talent for already, and she’s only just really getting started.
Most recently, Eala made Filipina history at Wimbledon with her run to the fourth round, resulting in a rankings jump to a career-high of 28th.
And, whilst there is a long summer of tennis ahead of her, an opportunity is emerging to climb even higher in the coming months even before the US Open gets underway.
How Alexandra Eala can crack the top 20 before the US Open
No tennis player from the Philippines, male or female, has ever come close to being 28th in the world rankings. Already, she is widely seen as the greatest tennis export in her nation’s history.
That is what makes her additional potential so exciting. The legacy she could leave on her home country when she eventually calls time on her career could be sprawling, with her impact already evident.
How many Grand Slams will Alex Eala win in her career? 🏆
She's just knocked out the defending Wimbledon champion!
How high she climbs in the world rankings will certainly aid her in that task, and in the coming months the chance is there to crack milestone after milestone.
Firstly, the top 25 could be achieved simply by a single semifinal in DC, yielding 195 points.
With virtually no points to defend between now and the US Open, these coming months are a pressure-free clean slate.
However, if she had aspirations of being inside the top 20 before heading to New York, Alexandra Eala would need 634 ranking points at this moment in time – the equivalent of a DC final plus a semi-final in Toronto or Cincinnati.
This is wholly possible, but perhaps the top 25 should be her initial target for now. That alone would be another huge breakthrough for Eala.
Alex Eala pictured practising with Venus Williams in Washington
Eala will once again compete in both the singles and doubles in Washington, maximising her time on court and thus the number of opportunities fans will get to see of her.
As such, she has been pictured practising with one of the sport’s most iconic figures, unsurprisingly given Eala will partner Venus Williams in the doubles once again.
It’s the end of the 2026 season… How many matches has Venus Williams won this year? Where is she ranked? Let us know in the comments👇
They received a wildcard entry, thus setting the stage for their first-ever hard-court appearance together after playing in Bad Homburg.
There, they suffered a quarter-final loss to the number two seeds.
