Alex Eala earns her biggest single-tournament ranking points haul after a historic Washington Open triumph, where she captured her maiden WTA Tour title by defeating the top three seeds and the defending champion
MANILA, Philippines – A maiden WTA Tour crown has propelled Alex Eala to the world top 20 for the first time in her career.
The Filipina climbed to No. 20 in the updated WTA rankings released on Tuesday, August 4, as she ruled the Washington Open in the United States after overcoming American world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the final.
Eala netted 500 points — her largest haul from a single tournament — to raise her total to 2,106 points and climb eight places from No. 28 the previous week.
It marked her biggest ranking jump since her breakthrough into the top 35 in February, when she surged from No. 47 to No. 31 following her run to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Eala’s ascent in the rankings proved to be a fitting reward for a remarkable run in Washington, where Eala became the first Filipina to win a tour-level title by overcoming a brutal draw that featured all the top three seeds and the defending champion.
The 21-year-old dethroned 2025 winner Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the round of 16, demolished second seed and world No. 10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals, dominated third seed and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan in the semifinals, then rallied past top seed Pegula in her first WTA 500 final.
Eala also beat reigning Olympic and Asian Games titleholder Zheng Qinwen of China in the round of 32 to open her campaign.
The victories over Svitolina and Pegula extended Eala’s winning streak against top-10 opponents to five matches and improved her overall record against such players to 9-4, with seven of those wins coming in 2026 alone.
Her other top-10 victims this year include Poland’s Iga Swiatek, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, USA’s Coco Gauff, and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Although still riding high on the biggest title of her career, Eala quickly shifts her focus to the ongoing WTA 1000 Canadian Open, which will run until August 13.
The 25th seed, Eala received a first-round bye and advanced directly to the round of 64, already surpassing her round-of-128 exit at the hands of Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in 2025. – Rappler.com
