Alex Eala will be watching two players very closely while they are still in the US Open
Alex Eala will be watching two players closely for the rest of the US Open as she looks to keep hold of their position in the WTA singles rankings.
Eala was knocked out of the US Open at the third round stage by her close friend Iva Jovic, who defeated her 7-5 3-6 7-5 on Saturday evening.
The 21-year-old's ranking position was not impacted as she only reached the second round of the US Open last year, meaning she dropped only five ranking points while others around her lost considerably more - and it means only two players left in the Grand Slam can overtake her.
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Alex Eala holds provisional ranking after US Open
Heading into the US Open, Eala held her highest-ever ranking of 18th, having won her maiden WTA title at the Washington Open in August. She followed that with a run to the third round of the Canadian Open.
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The Filipina was seeded at number 17 for the US Open main draw, with Victoria Mboko's withdrawal due to a knee injury pushing her up a place.
All of her attention will now be on home star Emma Navarro, and China's Qinwen Zheng, to see whether she can keep hold of her ranking.
Navarro, whose parents Ben and Kelly are worth a staggering $3.2 billion, is currently ranked 24th in the world and has defeated two seeded players - Karolina Muchova and Anna Kalinskaya - on her way to the quarter-finals.
Zheng, who is extremely popular among Asian tennis fans, reached the final of the Australian Open in 2024 but didn't win a single Grand Slam match this year before the US Open. She missed the Australian Open through injury.
The 22-year-old defeated 2025 Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the fourth round to reach the quarter-finals.
Zheng would need to win the tournament to overhaul Eala, with victory putting her on 2,653 points compared to Eala's tally of 2,276.
Navarro, meanwhile, will overtake Eala if she wins her quarter-final, which would elevate her to 2,374 points. She takes on world number three Jessica Pegula at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.
Alex Eala’s US Open run - and what it did to her ranking
Eala recorded wins over Mary Stoiana and Oleksandra Oliynykova to book her place in the third round against Jovic.
She could have faced Coco Gauff had she reached the fourth round, with the two-time US Open champion comfortably winning in straight sets 6-1 6-4 against Jovic.
Eala had only dropped eight games across the four sets in her previous two matches, but understandably found world number 14 Jovic a much more testing proposition.
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Still, there will have been plenty of highlights to take away from the US Open - not least that she won another two matches at a Grand Slam and dropped only five ranking points.
World number 11 Amanda Anisimova, for instance, dropped 1,170 points after her third round defeat to Anastasia Potapova. Anisimova reached the final last year, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
"With the experiences that I've had this year, I'm put in so many situations," Eala said in her post-match press conference after losing to Jovic. "I guess so many firsts. And with those situations come new lessons.
"I learn about myself. I learn about how to act, I learn about what's the best way for me to handle an obstacle. I learn about what effect do my decisions have further down the line. And those themes stick with tennis, yes, but also in life.
"What I've learned tonight, I have yet to process. But what I know for sure is that I left everything out there. I fought through the ups and downs. Through, I guess, there were moments where I wasn't playing so good, and moments where I was playing really good.
"What I know for a fact is that I fought, so I'm happy with that."
Ryan Smart