FILIPINO tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala reset her WTA live rankings career-high from No. 25 on Saturday to No. 24 after reaching the 500 Mubadala DC Open final in Washington early Sunday morning in Manila.
Ousting four-time Grand Slam champ Naomi Osaka in the semifinal, Eala boosted herself with a net gain of 265 ranking points and raised her total to 1,931.
Eala could reach as high as top 20 if she goes on to win the tournament, with the live rankings stating she could earn a total of 2,106 points.
That would have Eala eclipse No. 23 Elise Mertens (1,948), Madison Keys (1,964), Maja Chwanlinska (1,975), and Anna Kalinskaya (2,083).
No. 28 in the official rankings, Eala was set to face American world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the final Monday midnight in Manila.
The official rankings might update on Monday afternoon if it won't be frozen by the WTA since the National Bank Open in Toronto is ongoing already.
WTA usually freezes the official rankings when high-level tournaments like 1000s or Grand Slams are ongoing, making an update only afterward.
Eala defeated Zheng Qinwen of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round; dethroned defending champ Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the second, 6-2, 7-6(1), and repeated over Elian Svitolina in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4.
A hefty prize money of $252,000 or more than P15.4 million is at stake in the final for Eala.
She's guaranteed to bag $155,000 or P9.4 million as a finalist.
After Washington, Eala will compete at the National Bank Open in Toronto where she received a first-round bye.
Eala is on a collision course with newly minted Wimbledon champ Linda Noskova in the third round (round of 32) as the tournament draw revealed last Saturday.
In the round of 64, tournament No. 25 seed Eala stares at a potential rematch against American Alycia Parks who faces a qualifier to start her campaign.
Eala yielded to world No. 68 Parks at the Australian Open first round, 6-0, 3-6, 2-6, last January.
