Alex Eala has found another reason to celebrate turning 18.
The 21-year-old Filipina climbed two places to a career-best No. 18 in the latest WTA singles rankings released Monday, Aug. 24. Eala marked the milestone with a clever Instagram Story set to Khalid’s “8TEEN.”
“Turned 18 twice in this lifetime,” Eala wrote over a screenshot of her updated WTA profile, adding a teary-eyed emoji.
HeavyAlex Eala shared a playful Instagram Story after rising to world No. 18, writing, “Turned 18 twice in this lifetime,” alongside Khalid’s “8TEEN.”
The first time came on her 18th birthday in May 2023. The second arrived three years later, when a number beside her name confirmed just how rapidly she has ascended in professional tennis.
According to the official WTA rankings, Eala enters US Open week with 2,281 points. Her profile now lists matching numbers for her current position and career high: No. 18.
The song choice fit the occasion. Khalid’s “8TEEN” reflects on the freedom, uncertainty and growing pains of youth. Eala’s interpretation was more playful, connecting a universal rite of passage with a ranking milestone no woman from Southeast Asia had reached before.
Alex Eala Makes Southeast Asian Tennis History
Eala surpassed the previous regional women’s singles record shared by Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Basuki reached No. 19 in October 1997, months after advancing to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Tanasugarn matched that ranking in May 2002 during a career that included four WTA singles titles and a Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance.
No. 18 makes Eala the highest-ranked Southeast Asian woman in WTA singles history.
The achievement extends a breakthrough season in which Eala has repeatedly rewritten the tennis record book for the Philippines.
She began August at No. 28 before producing the most important tournament run of her career at the Mubadala DC Open. Eala defeated Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula to capture her first WTA Tour singles title.
Every opponent she faced in Washington was either a current top-10 player or former Grand Slam finalist.
Eala rallied past Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the rain-delayed final, becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a tour-level WTA singles championship. That breakthrough lifted her eight positions to No. 20 and made her the first Filipina to enter the WTA Top 20.
Career Milestone Arrives Before US Open
Eala continued collecting points in Cincinnati, defeating Elena-Gabriela Ruse after the Romanian retired from their second-round match.
She then took the opening set from 2025 US Open runner-up Amanda Anisimova before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The result ended her Cincinnati campaign but did not stop her ranking momentum.
Eala is now expected to be seeded in the women’s singles draw when the US Open main draw begins Sunday, Aug. 30. Before then, she will make her Grand Slam mixed doubles debut alongside Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The wild-card team will face married tennis stars Svitolina and Gael Monfils in the opening round Tuesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Those challenges can wait. Monday was about appreciating another piece of history.
Eala has now turned 18 twice—and the second occasion made her Southeast Asia’s highest-ranked women’s singles player ever.
Alex Eala Sends 6-Word Message After Making Southeast Asian Tennis History Ahead of US Open