A NIGHT session fixture at the Canadian Open last week, Filipino tennis ace Alexandra “Alex” Eala found herself set for prime time anew at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open in Ohio. Played at noontime for her opening match last Saturday, Eala sees action this time in Monday night session (Tuesday morning in Manila) for her third round (round of 32) match.
World No. 20 Eala faces No. 10 Amanda Anisimova of the United States for the first time at the Lindner Family Tennis Center P&G Center Court at 8:30 a.m. in Manila.
Filipino fans are expected to fill the stands anew just like they did for Eala’s first match at the Tony Trabert Stadium 3.
Seeded No. 17 in the tournament with a first-round bye, Eala defeated world No. 77 Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in the second round (round of 64), 6-1, 3-0 (ret.).
Avenging her 2024 US Open third round qualifiers loss to the Romanian, the Philippine bet won 8 of her last 9 matches.
On the other h a n d , N o . 9 s e e d Anisimova dispatched world No. 50 Z e y n e p Sonmez, 6-2, 6-3, to forge her first encounter against Eala.
Eala swings for her sixth straight and 10th overall win against top 10 players at the expense of 4-time champ Anisimova.
Eala holds a 9-4 win-loss record against top 10 players.
The 21-year-old took down world No. 3 Jessica Pegula at the 500 Mubadala DC Open final, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, for her first Tour-level title.
That was Eala’s last encounter against a top 10 player.
After falling to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina at the Italian Open third round, 4-6, 3-6, last May, Eala started her winning run with a payback win against the same player at the Berlin Open second round, 7-5, 6-4, on June 18.
Eala made it back-to-back with a victory over then-world number eight Svitolina (now No. 9) in the Berlin quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4, on June 20.
Eala picked up her third straight win against a top 10 player in the Wimbledon third round, where she defeated then-world number three (now No.5) and defending champ Iga Swiatek, 7–6(9), 6–2.
Eala repeated over world No. 10 (now world No. 9) Svitolina in the Mubadala DC quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4, before getting her fifth straight win at Pegula’s expense.
Eala’s other wins against top 10 players include a 6-4, 6-2 win over then-world number five Madison Keys at the 2025 Miami Open round of 64, former world number two Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in the quarterfinals of the same tournament, ex-world number eight Jasmine Paolini at the 2026 Dubai Championships second round, 6–1, 7–6(5), and world No. 4 Coco Gauff in the Indian Wells third round, 6-2, 2-0 (ret.) last March.
Eala’s defeats against top 10 players were a 6-7, 7-5, 3-6 loss to then-world number four Pegula at the 2025 Miami Open semifinal, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6; to then-ex-world number two Swiatek in the 2025 Madrid Open round of 64, 0-6, 2-6; to world No. 4 Gauff in the Dubai Championships quarterfinals; and a 4-6, 3-6 round of 32 loss to world No. 2 Rybakina at the Italian Open last May.