Eala jumps to new career-high world ranking at No. 54

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA, with a new career-high world ranking at No. 54, is enjoying a little break in Wuhan, China before resuming her campaign in Japan next week in a bid to win her second professional title and barge inside the Top 50 for the first time ever.

Ms. Eala got an early boot from the WTA1000 Wuhan Open last week, absorbing a 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 defeat against Japanese Moyuka of Japan in Round 1 of the qualifiers but proved enough in her WTA rise once more, thanks to a string of playoff finishes before that.

From No. 58 last week, Ms. Eala improved four rungs with 1131 points and is determined to shore up her drive as one of the seeded main draw players in the WTA250 Japan Open in Osaka on Monday alongside Leylah Fernandez and Naomi Osaka.

The grind continues for Ms. Eala from there, strutting her stuff in the Guangzhou Open on Oct. 20 to 26 and the Hong Kong Open on Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.

It’s been a loaded Asian swing for Ms. Eala so far with three stops in China marked by a semifinal stint in the WTA125 Jingshan Open. She had a quarterfinal finish in the WTA125 Suzhou Open after that before an early elimination in Wuhan.

Before that, the 20-year-old Filipina pride won her first WTA Tour crown in the WTA125 Guadalajara Open in Mexico and had a Top-8 finish in the WTA250 Sao Paulo Open in Brazil on top of a US Open milestone as the first Filipina winner in any Grand Slam main draw.

Ms. Eala, after her non-stop Asian tour, is tipped to play in the slated home leg of the WTA Tour to be branded as the Manila or Philippine Open in early 2026 after her possible national team return in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games this December in Thailand. — John Bryan Ulanday