Alex Eala: How many ranking points and how much money did she win after her defeat in Linz?

Kevin Palmer 08 Apr 2026 6:03 PM

Alex Eala looks on

Alex Eala failed to make the most of some promising opportunities as she crashed out of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament in a straight sets defeat against Jelena Ostapenko.

The Filipina star looked set to force the contest against the 2017 French Open champion into a decisive set as she raced into a 5-1 lead in the second set, but she could not maintain her momentum and went down to a 6-4, 7-5 defeat.

Eala struggled to maintain her levels of excellence for long enough to secure a win against a higher-ranked opponent and this defeat means she missed out on a chance to make a decisive move up the WTA Rankings.

Eala slipped down the WTA list after she failed to match her run to the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 event in Miami in 2025, with her defeat against Linda Noskova in Florida.

The 20-year-old went into Miami ranked at No 32, but she dropped down to No 46 after the defeat against Noskova, so she would have been hoping for a quick rise as she started her clay court campaign in Austria.

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Eala collected 60 ranking points in this event and has moved up one place to No 45 in the live WTA Rankings after winning her first round match in Linz, with her prize money total coming in at a relatively modest €15,690.

She will now move on to Stuttgart, where she will make her debut in the WTA 500 tournament that will also feature world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, French Open champion Coco Gauff and Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

In the view of former British No 1 Greg Rusedski, Eala needs to add more facets to her game to compete with the best players consistently, as he gave his views on a recent edition of his podcast.

“She’s like Manny Pacquiao, and they’re always so hungry for a new superstar [in the Philippines],” he said on Off Court With Greg Rusedski

“She’s a lovely girl, she’s been at the Rafael Nadal academy for multiple years. We talked about the serve getting better.

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“It’s gonna be harder for people to hit a hole through her [on clay], it’s gonna be much more physically combative.

“Being at the academy with Rafa on clay, he’s spent a lot of time with her, so she knows what to do.

“I’d love to see her in the top 20; she is great for the WTA. We need more stars, we need more names, and we need new people. And she opens up a marketplace, and people just love her.

“Anywhere around the world where there are people from the Philippines, they’re always talking about her: ‘What meal can I cook for her? What can I do?’

“Automatically, her matches sell out, and for me, she is a huge, huge positive. I’d love to see her, on this surface, crack the top 20 in the world.”