AT THIS point, Alex Eala has already checked off every item on her bucket list for the year — yet climbing higher in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings remains within reach.
She may have nothing left to prove, but the 20-year-old still has a golden opportunity to break into the WTA Top 50, with several key tournaments and a few crucial months left before the year comes to a close.
Starting things off for the Filipina tennis sesnation, Eala will be competing as one of the seeded main draw players in the WTA250 Japan Open in Osaka on Monday, fresh off a little break in Wuhan, China.
Career Year
Riding a strong season marked by steady progress in bigger events, Eala is well-positioned for a final push this last quarter. With improved form and rising confidence, she’s a serious threat to close the year strong.
Back in December 2024, Eala set her sights on two major goals for 2025: breaking into the WTA Top 100 and winning her first professional title. Now, it’s clear she has exceeded those expectations.
Despite an early exit at the WTA1000 Wuhan Open last week — falling to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in the qualifiers — Eala still achieved a new career-high ranking of No. 54, thanks to a string of strong performances earlier in the season.
Just last month, Eala captured her first-ever WTA title with a come-from-behind victory over Hungary’s Panna Udvardy at the Guadalajara 125 Open — checking off another goal she had set at the start of the year.
That milestone, along with her historic first-round win in the main draw of the US Open in August, earned her top honors from the Philippine Sportswriters Association for the month of September.
Bring It On
Now in prime position to improve her current ranking, the Filipina tennis star is gearing up for a three-tournament WTA 250 swing across Asia, spanning the entire month of October.
Her campaign begins next week at the Japan Women’s Open (October 13–19), followed by the Guangzhou Open (October 20–26), and wraps up at the Hong Kong Tennis Open (October 27–November 2).
With her confidence peaking, Eala enters the final stretch of the year not just chasing points, but chasing history. The door to the WTA Top 50 is wide open — and the next few weeks could be her moment to step through.
Should she succeed, it would be the perfect way to cap off a career-defining year — one where she not only met her goals, but surpassed them with resilience, consistency, and breakthrough performances.
More importantly, Eala continues to raise the Philippine flag on the global tennis stage, opening doors for future historic wins and inspiring the next generation of Filipino athletes to dream just as big.
