Eala out to protect ranking points in Miami Open return

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines returns a shot to Linda Noskova of Czechia on Day 7 of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2026 in Indian Wells, California.

Matthew Stockman / Getty Images / AFP

MANILA, Philippines — From West to East, Alex Eala will cross borders with a tall order of defending her precious ranking points in the Miami Open to stay in the Top 30 or move closer to the world tennis leviathans.

On the crest of a Last-16 finish in the Indian Wells Open, Eala soared to No. 28 in the WTA live rankings with 120 additional points, but her stay inside the 30 best players in the world or her bid to crack the Top 20 now hangs in the balance.

“Yes, that’s exactly my goal I’m trying to approach though I can’t speak for the future and what will actually happen when I arrive to Miami,” said Eala shortly after her exit in the BNP Paribas Open, dubbed as the “Fifth Grand Slam” in California, with a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to World No. 14 Linda Noskova of Czechia.

Eala last year became the breakout star in Miami, eliminating Top-20 players and Grand Slam champions one after another to make it to the Final Four as a wildcard in the qualifiers.

Her campaign — marked by wins against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland and American star Madison Keys — ended with a gallant 6-7, 7-5, 3-6 loss to now World No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States.

In return, she harvested 390 points to become the first Filipina WTA semifinalist and Top-100 player that made her eligible in all Grand Slam main draws and 1000-level tours like the Indian Wells.

But those points will expire exactly a year after when the Miami Open is staged from March 17-29 according to WTA rules, making it a must for Eala to replicate a Final-Four finish or more just to retain the said points.

Otherwise, Eala — who has 1542 points — is projected to hit a free fall from No. 32 (official rankings before the update next week).

Should she fail to advance to the semifinals and proceed to lose her 390 points especially at a time when she’s already lurking at Top 20, Eala is tipped for a drastic return to around 1142 points, good for Top 50-60 once again just like when she started the year.

And so, it’s fight or flight for the 20-year-old star, may all be the odds against her favor with much bigger stakes in the main draw right away from being a mere unknown wildcard qualifier last year.

“Miami last year was a beautiful time for me and it was the start of all of this. Since then, I’ve achieved a lot and I’ve grown a lot as well. I had so many good matches, tough losses and so much experience since then and that has helped me build confidence, self-esteem,” said Eala, billed as the international tennis poster girl today with a massive crowd in every city tour.

“And I know that I belong here.”

As immense as the pressure is to defend her ranking points as the Tour shifts from West to East across the states approaching second Grand Slam season this summer in the French Open, Eala believes she’s not going anywhere soon.

“It doesn’t matter if I win the tournament in Miami or if I lose in the first round. I know I’m here and I’m here to stay,” she vowed.

Eala is expected to draw extra motivation from the Filipino fans in South Beach once more like what she had in California, which boasts the biggest overseas Filipino population around the world at around two million.