Alex Eala barged anew into the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) top 40 at No. 38.

Eala, 20, rose from No. 42 ahead thanks to her run in the Italian Open where she made it as far as the Round of 32 before losing to No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan last week. 

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Iga Swiatek of Poland did not move from their respective No. 1 and No. 3 rankings as well as No. 4 Coco Gauff, who lost to No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Filipino-Canadian netter Leylah Fernandez dipped to No. 24 while Janice Tjen of Indonesia sank to No. 41. 

Eala is currently competing against No. 66 Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine at press time in the Round of 32 of the Strasbourg Open in France. 

It will be the Rafael Nadal Academy alumna’s final competition before she competes in the French Open in Paris on 24 May.

But before she makes her way to the French capital, Eala looks to clinch the prestigious WTA 500-level tournament before she turns 21 on 23 May.

Should she beat Oliynykova, Eala will be taking on the winner between Czech Republic netters No. 26 Marie Bouzkova and No. 39 Katerina Siniakova in the Round of 16. 

She hopes to break her Czech slump after losing 13 times since her professional debut in 2021. 

Eala is also expected to face the likes of No. 21 Clara Tauson of Denmark, No. 37 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and defending champion and No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia are expected to test her mettle.

Eala’s rise has been phenomenal given that she was at No 147 at the start of 2025.

At one time last March, she occupied the No. 29 spot in the WTA singles play.