Alex Eala has never walked into a WTA tournament with a higher seed than this. The 21 year old Filipina is the 17th seed at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio, her biggest billing yet on tour, and the draw handed her a first-round bye.
Her highest seed yet, and a Cincinnati debut
Seeding 17th at the WTA 1000 hardcourt event is a first for Eala, who is making her Cincinnati debut after pulling out of last year’s edition with a shoulder injury.
She arrives with the biggest month of her career behind her: a historic Wimbledon run, then the Mubadala DC Open title on August 3 over world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, which made her the first Filipina in the Top 20.
Who she faces first
Eala skips round one and opens in the round of 32 against the winner of Poland’s Magda Linette (world No. 68) or Romania’s Elena Gabriela Ruse (world No. 77), who meet on Thursday, Manila time.
Eala split her four career meetings with Linette but won both clashes this season, at the ASB Classic and the Miami Open. Her only match against Ruse went the other way, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss in the 2024 US Open qualifiers.
Win that and a third-round meeting with ninth seed Amanda Anisimova is the projected path, with the draw opening up from there.
What her Cincinnati run means
Eala arrives in Ohio having won seven of her last eight matches, with her career-best winning streak snapped by Belinda Bencic in Toronto on Monday. Canadian Open crowds turned her matches into home games, with fans dubbing the venue Barangay Toronto.
Her opener follows once Linette and Ruse settle their first-round duel on Thursday, Manila time, with a likely third-round meeting against ninth seed Amanda Anisimova on the line. For the 21 year old Rafa Nadal Academy graduate, it is the highest seed of her career at the last big warm-up before the US Open, and the first time she starts a WTA 1000 as a seeded player.
