{"id":1776861,"date":"2026-02-17T19:10:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1776861"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:10:58","slug":"alex-eala-set-for-rankings-milestone-after-stunning-dubai-upset-as-her-next-opponent-is-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1776861","title":{"rendered":"Alex Eala set for rankings milestone after stunning Dubai upset as her next opponent is revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Alex Eala set for rankings milestone after stunning Dubai upset as her next opponent is revealed<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"17 Feb 2026 7:10 PM\" data-ps-date=\"17 Feb 2026 7:10 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771355458\"><br \/>\n                            17 Feb 2026 7:10 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-wta-rankings-milestone-jasmine-paolini-upset-dubai\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a 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href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Falex-eala-wta-rankings-milestone-jasmine-paolini-upset-dubai\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a class=\"!text-share-icon hover:!text-share-icon-active flex items-center justify-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" aria-label=\"Follow Tennis365 on Google Search\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Alex Eala set for rankings milestone after stunning Dubai upset as her next opponent is revealed\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alex-Eala-roars-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Eala at the Dubai Championships\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Alex Eala roars in celebration                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Alex Eala is set to break new ground in the WTA Rankings after she upset Jasmine Paolini in straight sets at the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships.<\/p>\n<p>Cheered on passionately by an army of her fans at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> earned a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory against world No 8 Paolini in the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina star\u00a0won the opening set in dominant fashion and was twice up a break in the second set, but she was unable to convert the three match points she had on Paolini\u2019s serve at 5-3 and was broken serving for the match at 5-4.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old then fought off two set points on her own serve at 5-6 before she held her nerve in the tiebreak as she sealed the win on her fifth match point.<\/p>\n<p>Eala\u2019s triumph against the 30-year-old Italian was her third career win against an opponent ranked in the top 10 after she beat Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek at the 2025 Miami Open.<\/p>\n<p>At the age of 20 years and 168 days, Eala is the youngest Asian player to record top 10 wins at multiple WTA 1000 events, breaking a record previously held by Naomi Osaka (20 years and 350 days).<\/p>\n<p>In her on-court interview, Eala said: \u201cAll the emotions are coming because the tension was so high, especially during that second set. So I\u2019m really happy to have gotten through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a great opponent obviously being top 10 and a former champion here. So to be able to compete with her at this level \u2014 it\u2019s a great achievement for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-reacts-wins-prestigious-award-philippines\"><strong>Alex Eala \u2018honoured\u2019 as her rise is recognised with prestigious Philippines award<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/dubai-tennis-championships-withdrawals-retirements-field-wta-1000-decimated\"><strong>Dubai Tennis Championships withdrawals and retirements: Field at WTA 1000 event decimated<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>How has Eala\u2019s Dubai run affected her ranking?<\/h2>\n<p>Eala entered the Dubai Championships in 47th position in the Live WTA Rankings, having dropped from her career-high spot of 40th at the start of the week.<\/p>\n<p>In her opening round match, Eala was leading 6-4, 0-1 against Hailey Baptiste when her American opponent was forced to retire.<\/p>\n<p>Following her second round win over Paolini, Eala is up nine places in the live rankings to a projected new career-best ranking of 38th, having boosted her points total by 110 points to 1,337.<\/p>\n<p>If she wins her third round match, she will move onto 1,432 points, which could see her climb as high as 32nd.<\/p>\n<h2>Who will Eala face next?<\/h2>\n<p>Eala will take on world No 32 Sorana Cirstea in the last 16 in Dubai. Cirstea upset 10th seed Lind Noskova 6-1, 6-4 in the second round.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/prize-money-elena-rybakina-aryna-sabalenka-iga-swiatek-coco-gauff-karolina-muchova-2026\">Prize money earned by Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Karolina Muchova in 2026<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Eala set for rankings milestone after stunning Dubai upset as her next opponent is revealed Ewan West 17 Feb 2026 7:10 PM Alex Eala roars in celebration Alex Eala is set to break new ground in the WTA Rankings after she upset Jasmine Paolini in straight sets at the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships. Cheered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1776861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1776861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1776861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1776861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1776861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}