Goals reached as Alex Eala earns new career-high No. 45 world ranking

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala capped an eventful month to begin 2026 with a new career-high world ranking.

Eala improved to No. 45 in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday, February 2, following her quarterfinal finish in the historic staging of the Philippine Women’s Open.

Although the 20-year-old missed out on ruling the country’s first-ever WTA 125 event as she lost to eventual champion Camila Osorio of Colombia in the last eight, she still rose four spots in the world rankings from her previous career-high of No. 49. 

“I think the goals for January have been reached and for the next six months, it’s hard to say. Just to inch by inch keep improving in the rankings as much as I can. It’s different when I have to defend points,” Eala said during the Philippine Women’s Open.

January proved to be a promising month for Eala as she won five of her eight matches across three tournaments, collecting a purse of nearly $130,000 (over P7.6 million).

She started the year with a semifinal run in the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, then made her maiden main draw appearance in the Australian Open, where she lost to Alycia Parks of the United States.

In the Philippine Women’s Open, Eala swept both Russia’s Alina Charaeva and Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume in the first two rounds before she fell in straight sets to Osorio, who went on to lift the trophy by outlasting Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the finale.

“I try to take it month by month and I think this month, in January, having it ended, I’ve had very good matches. I’ve done really well in Auckland, I think I had great matches there, and although I had an early exit in AO, I still think there was a lot of takeaways from that match,” said Eala.

The grind does not stop for Eala as she took her act to the United Arab Emirates, where she competes in the Abu Dhabi Open — a WTA 500 event that offers significant ranking points. – Rappler.com