Alex Eala had formally barged into the top 40 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking following a a strong performance in her recent event in the professional circuit.

The 20-year-old Filipina sensation jumped from No. 45 to No. 40 — a new career-best — after collecting 1,224 points that reflect her quarterfinal finish in the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open last Thursday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi.

Aryna Sabalenka of Ukraine, Iga Swiatek of Poland and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan remain untouchable in the first three spots while Americans Amanda Anisimova, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula occupy the next three spots.

Prior to Abu Dhabi, Eala also had deep runs in the WTA125 Philippine Women’s Open, her first pro tournament at home, and had a semifinal stint in the WTA250 ASB Classic in Auckland.

Eala’s breakthrough isn’t limited to singles event. The Filipina had also entered the top 100 in the doubles event following her deep run in Abu Dhabi last week in which she and her partner, fellow Southeast Asian Janice Tjen of Indonesia made it to the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi event.

Along the way, Eala and Tjen — fondly called as “SEA-sters” by local fans — posted impressive win over the super tandem of Cristina Bucsa (WTA doubles No. 22) and two-time Grand Slam champion Shuai Zhang of China (WTA No. 7) in the quarterfinals.

Their run, however, was halted by Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain’s Olivia Nicholls, 4-6, 2-6, in the Final Four.

With her boost in ranking, and her massive fan base due to the support of the huge Filipino crowd everywhere she plays, former tennis superstar Monica Puig of Puerto Rico couldn’t help but admire Eala, saying that she is definitely fired up by her newfound fame and responsibility to serve as her country’s representative in the world’s biggest stage of professional tennis.

“They were just loud. They were so passionate and they were really trying to encourage Eala to win and you saw that they were just suffering along with her,” said Puig, who reached as high as No. 27 in 2016 in the WTA rankings, after watching Eala draw a huge crowd during her 3-6, 3-6 loss to world No. 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the Last Eight in Abu Dhabi.

“I think to enjoy it, embrace it. It also is a big responsibility because you are pretty much the face for your country.”

Now 32, Puig was a regular player in Grand Slams with her best run being in 2013 at the Wimbledon Championships, where she made it as far as the Last 16 before losing to Sloanne Stephens of the United States, 6-4, 5-7, 1-6.

The Puerto Rican also won the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France in 2013 after beating Sílvia Soler Espinosa of Spain, 6-4, 6-3.

For Eala, it is still a sight for her to see a lot of fans, particularly Filipinos, fill the stadium seats and cheer her on.

“I just think these moments are moments I have dreamed about. Selling out stadiums, it’s insane,” said Eala, who is the newest toast of Philippine sports with her prowess, beauty and down-to-earth attitude.

“Being in these matches in particular are really the ones that stick with you, and I’ve had a lot of them in the past year.”

Right now, Eala is competing in the Qatar Open, a prestigious WTA 1000 meet, where she is facing world No. 48 Tereza Valentová of the Czech Republic in the Round of 64 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha at press time.

With Qatar being the second home to around 260,000 Filipinos workers and expatriates, expect Eala’s matches to be sold out again as they cheer her on.

The Rafael Nadal Academy alumna will need all the support she can get as she will face the winner between No. 35 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania or No. 19 and 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the Round of 32.

At stake in Doha is at least 65 ranking points that will send her to around top 30 to 35 in ranking with $26,000 purse. But if she gets an early boot, she will settle for 10 points and $18,300 while staying in the top 40 to 45 plateau.