Eala soars to new career-best No. 31 in the WTA rankings

AND the legend of Alexandra “Alex” Eala reaches a new high.

The Filipina sensation moved closer to the world tennis titans, resetting her career-best to No. 31 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings following an impressive campaign in the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships over the weekend.

Ms. Eala, 20, made it to the last 8 of the world’s second biggest event next only to the four majors and thus soared 16 rungs from No. 47 last week.

The lefty ace slid seven spots from No. 40 after a first-round exit in the Qatar Open, also a 1000-level tour, but she made up for it in style in the United Arab Emirates with win over higher-ranked opponents one after another.

Now closer to the Top 30 than ever, Ms. Eala also moved to No. 5 in Asia just behind newly-minted Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan (No. 3), Naomi Osaka of Japan (No. 16), Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen (No. 24) and Wang Xinyu (No. 30) of China.

Ms. Eala ended her run with a 6-0, 6-2 defeat to her good pal and world No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States but beat bevy of fancied foes none bigger than world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

She also pulled the rug from under WTA No. 39 Hailey Baptiste of USA, 6-0, 0-1 after the latter’s retirement due to abdominal pain in the second set alongside WTA No. 32 Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 7-5, 6-4.

Her quarterfinal finish in Dubai revived her playoff streak in an explosive start to her 2026 season so far after the WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand (semifinals), WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open (quarterfinals) and the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open, where she reached the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals with Indonesian partner Janice Tjen (WTA No. 36).

It’s a good stepping stone for Ms. Eala on her way to two more 1000-level tours in the Indian Wells Open in California on March 4-15 and the Miami Open on March 17-29 in a bid to crack the Top 30 as one of the fast-rising tennis stars.

That stature has been in full display this year with packed stadiums for every game of Ms. Eala, drawing praises from the WTA and the Australian Open as well as Ms. Gauff, Dubai champion Jessica Pegula of the United States and 22-time Grand slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

“Alex (Eala) is amazing. The way she’s been able to pack stadiums and the way her country supports her is something special. She handles it so maturely, with such grace,” said Ms. Pegula after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the Dubai final, 6-2, 6-4 for her 10^th title.

It was Ms. Pegula who beat Ms. Eala in Miami last year that served as the Filipina’s breakout tournament to enter Top 100, Top 50 and now Top 35. — John Bryan Ulanday