The projected seeds for the 2026 Cincinnati Open women’s singles tournament have been confirmed, and Alex Eala is set to make more history.
Eala is in fine form heading into Cincinnati, having won 10 of her last 12 matches across her previous three tournaments.
After reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon — her best Grand Slam result to date — Eala began her North American hard-court season at the Washington Open.
The Filipina won five matches at the WTA 500 event in Washington DC to secure her maiden title, and she extended her win streak to seven matches with two victories at the Canadian Open. Her run in Toronto ended with a fourth round loss to Belinda Bencic.
Eala is at a career-high ranking of world No 20 after her stellar recent form, but she is set to be seeded 17th due to the withdrawals of three higher ranked players: Karolina Muchova, Jasmine Paolini and Victoria Mboko.
This will be Eala’s highest-ever seeding position at a WTA 1000 tournament, and also the highest seeding occupied by a player from the Philippines at this level of event.
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2026 Cincinnati Open projected WTA seeds
1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Elena Rybakina
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Coco Gauff
5. Mirra Andreeva
6. Linda Noskova
7. Iga Swiatek
8. Elina Svitolina
9. Amanda Anisimova
10. Marta Kostyuk
11. Naomi Osaka
12. Belinda Bencic
13. Iva Jovic
14. Diana Shnaider
15. Sorana Cirstea
16. Ekaterina Alexandrova
17. Alex Eala
18. Anna Kalinskaya
19. Maja Chwalinska
20. Madison Keys
21. Elise Mertens
22. Marie Bouzkova
23. Barbora Krejcikova
24. Anastasia Potapova
25. Emma Navarro
26. Jelena Ostapenko
27. Clara Tauson
28. Ann Li
29. Maria Sakkari
30. Leylah Fernandez
31. Donna Vekic
32. Janice Tjen
As a seeded player, Eala will receive an opening round bye in Cincinnati, and she will face an unseeded player in the second round.
The 21-year-old will learn her path when the Cincinnati Open singles draw ceremony takes place at 3pm local time on Tuesday.
Main draw action at the Lindner Family Tennis Center will get underway on Thursday 13 August and conclude on Sunday 23 August.
Following her campaign in Toronto, Eala revealed she would take a short break before appearing in Cincinnati.
“I definitely will take maybe two days off, a day or two. I do have to travel to Cincinnati. I need to get a haircut. I haven’t gotten a haircut in a while. My nails are grown out (laughing),” said Eala.
“So, yeah, I’ll do a couple things, just to get my mind off tennis. I think Toronto’s a great place to do that. Yeah, reunite maybe with some friends in Cincinnati, and just try to have fun.
“I’ll be back on court (snaps fingers) like that, so I got to enjoy what I have. I got to enjoy the time that I have that I’m not on court.”
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