Coco Gauff EXPLAINS Why Alex Eala Is The Most DANGEROUS Seed At The US Open

When Alex Eala lost to Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth round of the Canadian Open in early August 2026, the result read like a correction — proof, to some observers, that her breakout month had simply been a hot streak catching up with reality.

Looked at against the calendar rather than the scoreline, though, a different story emerges. In the two weeks before that Toronto loss, Eala had won her first career WTA Tour title at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, defeating defending champion Leylah Fernandez, second seed Elina Svitolina, third seed Naomi Osaka, and top seed Jessica Pegula — coming back from a set down in a rain-delayed final that stretched across two days to close it out 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

She then flew directly to Toronto, where she played and won two three-set matches in quick succession, including a tense night match against Caty McNally in which she battled through a scare with her ankle.

By the time she walked onto the court against Bencic — her ninth match, in singles and doubles combined, in thirteen days — her legs had little left to give.

Tennis analysts who watched the run closely noted that the fatigue, not a decline in form, was the more accurate explanation for the lopsided scoreline.

That context matters heading into the US Open, where the format itself works differently than the compressed WTA 1000 schedule that wore her down in Toronto.

Grand Slams build in a rest day between every round — a structural advantage for any player managing a heavy workload, and one Eala simply didn’t have during her back-to-back title chase and title defense.

Her form heading into New York has remained strong regardless. Eala arrived at the Cincinnati Open in mid-August with a career-high No.

17 seeding — helped by the withdrawal of several higher-ranked players, but also a genuine reflection of her rise to a career-high world ranking (No.

18, per some tracking as of mid-August, up from No. 20 a week earlier). She opened her Cincinnati campaign strongly, and her draw set up a potential third-round meeting with world No.

10 Amanda Anisimova, part of a bracket that ESPN and other outlets have noted could also bring a rematch against Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals and Iga Świątek or Elena Rybakina — both players Eala has already beaten this season — in the semifinals.

Former US Open finalist and ex-British No. 1 Greg Rusedski offered one of the more direct endorsements of Eala’s trajectory in mid-August, dismissing concerns about the difficulty of her draw.

“Why should she care whether she’s playing an Anisimova, whoever’s in the section?” Rusedski said on the Off Court With Greg podcast, pointing to her competitive resilience: “She competes, she fights, she’s so mentally tough that it doesn’t matter who’s in her way.”

His co-host, Kevin Palmer, went further, suggesting Eala could realistically challenge for a top-10 ranking by the end of the US Open if she continues producing strong results through Cincinnati and New York — a genuinely remarkable projection for a player who entered the 2025 season ranked outside the top 140.

Eala’s résumé backs up that confidence: she now holds a 9-4 record against top-10 opponents this season, an extraordinary rate for any player, let alone one making her first real run at the top of the rankings.

She’s also shown an ability to beat top players more than once — she has defeated former world No.

1 Iga Świątek twice, most recently in the third round of Wimbledon this year, 7-6(9), 6-2, en route to her best Grand Slam result to date, a fourth-round finish.

That Wimbledon run also made her the first Filipino player ever seeded at a Grand Slam.

Not everything has gone Eala’s way this season — Czech player Linda Nosková has beaten her twice in 2026, at Indian Wells and in the Berlin Open semifinals, and looms as a potential danger deeper in the Cincinnati and US Open draws.

But the broader trend line is unmistakable: a player who broke into the world’s top 100 for the first time only in 2025 is now, a year later, being seriously discussed as a top-10 contender by the end of the US Open.

Ahead of the tournament, Eala will also play in a high-profile “Stars of the Open” exhibition against 14th-ranked American teenager Iva Jovic at Arthur Ashe Stadium on August 27, days before the main draw begins on August 30 — a sign of just how significant a draw she’s become for the tournament itself, beyond her ranking.

As the first player from the Philippines to reach this level of the sport, Eala also carries the weight and support of a large Filipino diaspora community in the New York and New Jersey area, a factor that turned Toronto crowds partisan in her favor and could do the same, at even greater scale, at Flushing Meadows.

Whatever happens in New York, the arc of Eala’s 2026 season — from a wildcard with no top-40 win to a Wimbledon fourth-rounder, WTA title-winner, and genuine top-10 contender — already stands as one of the most remarkable breakthroughs on tour this year.