Alex Eala is done settling for moral victories.

The 21-year-old Filipina ace heads into the US Open with loftier ambitions after a breakthrough North American swing that saw her capture her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title and establish herself as one of professional tour’s rising stars.

Eala is expected to enter the final Grand Slam event of the year with career-high No. 18 in the WTA rankings, making her the highest-ranked Filipino women’s tennis player in the Open era.

With her lofty ranking also comes a favorable seeding as Eala looks to make another deep run when the US Open main draw starts on 30 August at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

“I think my main focus is to win more matches. Obviously, the priority is the level that I produce in (big) matches, and I think if I’m able to reach those levels at a consistent pace, then of course, the ranking will follow,” Eala said.

Eala’s 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 loss to world No. 10 Amanda Anisimova in the Round of 32 of the Cincinnati Open last Tuesday could prove beneficial as she now has more time to rest and prepare for a busy US Open campaign.

Prior to that, she will get a much-needed warm-up as she faces world No. 16 Iva Jovic in the Stars of the Open exhibition event on 27 August before embarking on her singles campaign.

Eala will also make her mixed doubles debut at the US Open alongside Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“I am so excited for the opportunity to play with him. The US Open is a very electric place to play doubles, and I think mixed doubles especially, with the lineups that there are, is going to be very interesting and a really great opportunity for me,” Eala said.

Auger-Aliassime, the world No. 4 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, is equally excited to experience the so-called “Eala Effect.”

“I think the people in our respective teams’ kind of talked and made that happen,” Auger-Aliassime, a bronze medalist in the mixed doubles event of the Paris Olympics two years ago, said.

“But yeah, it was a great opportunity because obviously I didn’t play last year, but this time around, to kind of feel what it’s like to have the Eala effect and fan base behind me is going to be funny because she’s younger than me, but I feel like I’m the one that’s like, you know, she has a fan base, right? Like, she’s carrying the crowd. So, it’s going to be interesting.”

Eala knows what it takes to win on the biggest stage.

In her US Open debut last year, the then-ranked No. 75 Eala stunned former world No. 12 Clara Tauson of Denmark for her first Grand Slam main draw victory.

She has since taken another giant leap forward, highlighted by her historic run to the Wimbledon Last 16 last July and her Washington Open title — her first WTA 500 crown — earlier this month.

Former world No. 4 Greg Rusedski believes Eala has also made the right decisions with her schedule heading into New York.

“So, this is the ideal lead-up: Washington, Toronto; lost in her third match; now she’s playing Cincinnati. There’s a week off next week, so she’s scheduling perfectly,” Rusedski, the British-Canadian star who lost to Pat Rafter in the final of the US Open in 1997, said.

“I think she’s going to be smart, she’s looking long-term. I just think she’s a ray of light for the WTA, and I don’t think she’s going to make the mistakes players have in the past.”

For Eala, however, the focus remains simple: produce her best tennis consistently and let the results follow.

And after announcing herself on the WTA stage, the Filipina star now has her sights set on making her biggest statement yet in the Big Apple.