Alex Eala is now ranked No. 29 in the WTA rankings. It is the 20-year-old’s career-high ranking after coming out of nowhere at around this time last year.
Prior to the BNP Paribas Open, Eala was at No. 31, which was good enough to get her a first-round bye at the Fifth Grand Slam. She then beat Dayana Yastremska to advance to the Round of 32 and defeated Coco Gauff to make it to the Round of 16 before getting booted out by Linda Noskova.
That run allowed Eala to earn 190 points, which no doubt helped propel her to the top 30 in the world rankings.
Alex Eala Returns to Miami
Eala will next take the court at the 2026 Miami Open. Interestingly, it was at last year’s Miami Open when the Filipina ace first shot to prominence when she made it all the way to the semis despite being No. 140 in the world at that time.
The Rafa Nadal Academy alum first defeated Katie Volynets in the Round of 128 last year in Miami. She then upset No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko, beat No. 5 Madison Keys in the Round of 32, and advanced to the quarterfinals via a walkover against Paula Badosa. She then stunned world No. Iga Swiatek to reach a most improbable semis stint. Eala’s fairytale run ended in the semifinals after a hard-fought three-set loss to No. 4 Jessica Pegula.
This time, Alex Eala will have a first-round bye again as the 31st seed in the main draw. Her first match will be on Thursday against either world No. 55 Lara Siegemund of Germany or No. 72 Petra Marcinko of Croatia. But, unlike last year, Eala won’t be able to sneak up on anyone as everyone now knows who she is and how good she can be. At that is why she will have to be at her absolute best if she wants to make another deep run in this tournament.
Among the top players joining Alex Eala in Miami are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Maya Joint, Emma Raducanu, and Coco Gauff.
