Alex Eala has entered the Canadian Open in the form of her life and her progress through the Masters tournament has opened up after some surprises in the second round.
The 21-year-old found her way past Alycia Parks in the second round, after defeating the American in a three set battle to get a semblance of revenge on the star for knocking her out of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Eala won 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to set up a third round clash against Caty McNally, but it could have been much more daunting for the Filipina star.
While McNally will provide a tough test for Eala, she is currently ranked world No 70 in the WTA Tour rankings, 50 places below the 21-year-old.
Eala would have expected to face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, but McNally stunned the Czech star to topple her in straight sets in Toronto.
The Filipina star is 0-10 against Czech players at WTA level, so she will surely be delighted to not have to play Noskova in the next round.
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The star will also be buoyed by several other results in the second round of the Canadian Open too, as 21st seed Marie Bouzkova and 22nd seed Barbora Krejcikova also crashed out in the second round.
Both women were in Eala’s side of the draw, so she could have played both later on in the competition.
Eight other seeds dropped out of the second round too, with Sorana Cirstea, Maja Chwalinska, Emma Navarro, Jelena Ostapenko, Clara Tauson, Donna Vekic, and Katerina Siniakova also exiting the competition.
Eala’s most likely route through the Canadian Open is now Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, Coco Gauff in the quarter finals, Elena Rybakina in the semi finals, and Aryna Sabalenka in the finals.
While that is an incredibly difficult pathway to win a title, Eala has already proved she can beat the very best on the WTA Tour this season.
Eala has beaten seven top 10 players already in the 2026 season, including Gauff and Rybakina, and she proved at the Washington Open that she could surpass multiple top-ranked players.
The 21-year-old defeated Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula back-to-back to win her very first WTA title at the North American event.
Besides, Eala is now in the top 20 of the WTA Tour rankings and her current form dictates that she is one of the elite players in the women’s game.
Her victory against Parks was her ninth victory in 10 matches, dating back to the Washington Open and Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round.
