Alex Eala is set to ascend to a new milestone ranking position after she won her debut match at the Cincinnati Open to progress to the third round.
The Filipina star was dominating 6-1, 3-0 against world No 74 Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round in Cincinnati when her opponent retired due to injury.
After losing her serve in the opening game of the match, Eala won the next nine games, breaking the 28-year-old Romanian five times in a row. She won 43 of the 62 points played in the match.
Eala, who is making her first-ever appearance at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, received an opening round bye as she is the 17th seed.
The 21-year-old started the Cincinnati Open at her career-high ranking of world No 20 after reaching the fourth round at the Canadian Open and securing the Washington Open title.
She has now won 11 of her last 13 matches in an impressive spell that started with her reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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How has Alex Eala’s Cincinnati Open win affected her WTA ranking?
By winning her second round match in Cincinnati, Eala has collected 65 ranking points, which has taken her points total to 2,221.
This has seen Eala climb three places to a projected new career-high ranking of world No 17 in the Live WTA Rankings.
Who will Alex Eala play next?
Eala will take on world No 10 Amanda Anisimova, the ninth seed in Cincinnati, in the third round at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
It will be Eala’s first-ever meeting with the 24-year-old American, who is a two-time Grand Slam finalist.
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