Alex Eala mania has officially gripped tennis, with the Filipina star taking a stunning step forward in her career after she lifted her first WTA Tour title in impressive fashion in Washington.
Eala’s powerful run in the American capital saw her beat Olympic champion Wang Xinyu, defending Washington champion Leylah Fernandez, the dangerous Elina Svitolina and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka before she beat Jessica Pegula in the final.
The win sparked an excited reaction from her fans in the Philippines, and she has already back up that win by winning her first match at the Canadian Open in front of an excitable crowd in Toronto.
Eala’s impressive run of form has fired her into the top 20 of the WTA Rankings for the first time in her career and now she could be set for an even more significant breakthrough.
With limited ranking points to defend over the next few weeks, Eala has a big chance to rise further up the rankings if she continues her current form and here is your Tennis365 guide to what she might achieve over the next month:
Top 10 breakthrough?
Eala has been playing tennis that would be expected of a player ranked in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings during her impressive grass court season and now onto the North American hard courts, but she will need a sustained run of success to reach that ranking over the next month.
Her current ranking points total has just crept over the 2,100-mark for the first time, but she would need to almost double that to get into the top 10.
That would mean deep runs at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, as well as making progress at the US Open.
Eala has a chance to claim 4,000 ranking points if she wins in Toronto, Cincinnati and at the US Open, but that is not a realistic goal for a player at the start of her career.
More Tennis News
Top 15 position?
This is a more realistic target.
Eala would need another 500-600 ranking points to get up to the top 15 and that would be achieved with a couple of wins in Canada and Cincinnati, as well as a couple of wins at the US Open.
The big ranking jackpot is on offer in the Grand Slams and if Eala matches her run to the last-16 at Wimbledon to even go further in New York, she could comfortably achieve a further five or six places up the rankings.
If her run of form comes to an end?
Eala is currently in the midst of the best burst of form in her young career and there is a strong chance she won’t be able to sustain her winning streak.
If she failed to reach the latter stages in Toronto and Cincinnati, her last chance to make a big push up the rankings will come at the US Open.
She may also start to feel the weight of expectations after becoming a contender rather than a rising star and that could have an impact on her mindset.
The good news for Eala fans is that even if she does lose early in her next three events, there is a good chance she will stay in the top 20 of the rankings, as she has limited points to defend from the same period of 2025.
READ NEXT: Naomi Osaka delivers verdict on Alex Eala’s incredible popularity at the Canadian Open
