How Alex Eala can seal major WTA Rankings breakthrough at Hong Kong Open

Oli Dickson Jefford 27 Oct 2025 4:15 PM

Alex Eala celebrates during her match

Alex Eala is set for her final WTA Tour-level event of 2025 at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, and approaches the event with a new career-high ranking to her name.

After a landmark season to date, Eala rose to 51st in the world when the WTA Rankings updated on Monday, the latest milestone in a major breakthrough season for the 20-year-old.

However, things could still get even better for the Filipina, who could find herself ranked inside the top 50 for the first time if she embarks on a strong campaign at the WTA 250 event in Hong Kong.

Here, we look at how Eala could finish her season by hitting yet another stunning milestone.

Rankings ramifications

On Monday, Eala moved up two places from 53rd to 51st in the world, with the 20-year-old holding 1,131 ranking points.

That puts her on the exact same ranking points as world No 50 Anastasia Potapova, though the Russian sits ahead of Eala because she has played fewer tournaments.

However, with Potapova and no other players ranked 50-60th in action on the WTA Tour this week, the Filipina has a key opportunity to potentially crack the top 50 for the first time.

Eala starts her Hong Kong Open campaign on Tuesday against 2024 finalist Katie Boulter, who has fallen to 79th in the world following a difficult 2025 season.

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Should Eala defeat the British star, she would move to 1,143 points in the WTA Live Rankings — enough to overtake Potapova and move to 50th in the live rankings.

If Eala were to beat Boulter, only three players in action this week — Cristina Bucsa in Hong Kong, Alycia Parks in Jiangxi, and Francesca Jones in Chennai — would be able to move above 1,143 points, and all of them would need titles at those respective tournaments to do so.

That means Eala has a realistic chance of a top 50 debut, and victory against Boulter would put her in a commanding position, though could she surge further through the draw?

What does Eala’s pathway look like?

A deep run into the draw would pretty much guarantee a top-50 debut for Eala, though that is far from guaranteed.

Though she has fallen down the WTA Rankings in 2025, Boulter is definitely a better player than her current ranking; she was a top 25 player as recently as the start of this season.

And, if Eala does reach the second round, she could face another of 2025’s biggest WTA breakthrough stars.

Third seed Victoria Mboko triumphed at the Canadian Open this summer and, after struggling following that success, snapped her losing streak with a run to the Pan Pacific Open quarter-final last week.

The Canadian also starts her campaign tomorrow and will be the favourite to beat opening-round opponent Talia Gibson, before a potential showdown versus Eala.

Mboko would be the favourite to defeat Eala should they face off, but if the Filipina were to hypothetically pull off the upset, she could then face sixth seed Anna Kalinskaya in the last eight.

That could then be followed by a semi-final versus second seed Leylah Fernandez, before a final against top seed Belinda Bencic.

If Eala were to win the title, she would hold 1,363 points — likely enough to crack the top 40.