Alex Eala has continued her impressive rise with a stellar start to the North American hard-court swing, but is the Filipina star’s packed schedule so far in 2026 a cause for concern?

Having began the year ranked 53rd in the world, Eala climbed to her career-high ranking position of world No 20 last week after securing her maiden WTA Tour title in Washington DC.

The 21-year-old then took her career-best winning streak to seven matches by reaching the fourth round at the Canadian Open before losing to Belinda Bencic.

Eala has now played a total of 56 matches across 20 tournaments this season, and she holds a 37-19 record (30-18 on the main WTA Tour, 7-1 at ITF/Challenger level).

The Quezon City-born star will next compete at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, which begins on Thursday, before playing the US Open, which will get underway on 30 August.

Her busy schedule then looks set to continue during the Asian swing as she has signed up for the Singapore Open, while there are also WTA 1000 events in Wuhan and Beijing.

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Eala’s uncle, Noli Eala — who is a sports executive and broadcaster — has addressed the concerns about how much tennis Eala has been playing.

“Many are concerned about Alex’s schedule, playing big tour events week after week,” Noli Eala wrote on Twitter/X.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, as a top tier player, Alex is mandated by WTA rules to play all WTA 1000 tournaments plus all Slams in order to total at least 18-20 tournaments per season.

“So Canada and Cincinnati are must-play as well as Beijing and Wuhan Open in addition to some WTA 500s.

“And this does not even account her desire to play for the Philippines National Team.

“The price of success.”

Following his niece’s loss to Bencic in Toronto, Noli Eala shared a positive message in a tweet: “IT’S OK!

“Alex is like a battery that just got drained. Tried hard ’til the bitter end but her best was not enough today against a superb Bencic.

“Nothing to be ashamed of though. It was her best win streak so far. But as always, in victory or defeat, Alex will always make us proud. Go Alex!”

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