DEFENDING 70 ranking points only for the entirety of the upcoming North American swing, Filipino tennis hotshot Alexandra “Alex” Eala is poised to boost her Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking.
Sustaining a left shoulder injury following her first-round exit at the National Bank Open in Toronto last year, Eala found herself competing in only two Tour-level tournaments including the US Open, where she reached the second round to earn those 70 points.
Eala pocketed 10 points from her first-round appearance in Toronto and another 25 for her quarterfinal finish at the ITF W100 Cary Tennis Classic, but those yields failed to crack her active “Best 18” tournament baseline in the last 52 weeks, keeping them from contributing to her current ranking cumulative of 1,666.
While 70 points is still relatively low, world No. 29 Eala earned it from the US Open which automatically counted toward her points total since it’s a Grand Slam tournament.
The low output last year now turns into a perfect launching pad for the 21-year-old Eala to further climb up the ladder after reaching a career-best No. 28 on July 13 following her historic Wimbledon fourth-round finish — the first for any Filipino singles player.
Any decent run Eala could make in the 500 Mubadala D.C. Open, 1000 Toronto Open, or the Cincinnati 1000 Open — her three stops before the US Open — will inject fresh ranking points to her record.
A quarterfinal finish at Mubadala would move the needle for Eala, who stands to gain 108 ranking points and eclipse the 70 she earned during last year’s North American swing in just her first tournament of this year’s campaign.
A semifinal finish (195 points), runner-up finish (325), or a championship finish (500) is even better.
Considering the little margin separating Eala from world No. 28 Anastasia Potapova (1,667), No. 27 Emma Navarro (1,674) and No. 26 Barbora Krejcikova (1,679), a single deep run in any of the said tournaments could vault her into the top 25 or even the top 20.
Meanwhile, pressure is now on world No. 25 Leylah Fernandez to defend her title in Mubadala, as an early exit would mean losing those championship points from her total of 1,784.
The live rankings already shaved those yields (440), dropping her nine places to No. 34 with 1,344 points left.
While Fernandez technically lost the full 500 points, the ranking system which is now left with her 17 counting tournaments, automatically pulled up her 19th-best result (a 60-pointer) to become her new 18th counter, resulting in a net deduction of just 440 points.
