MANILA, Philippines — Following a quarterfinal win at the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open Friday night, Alex Eala climbed one spot to a new career-high No. 16 in the WTA live rankings. Eala entered the final tournament of her season with a new official career-high rank of No. 17 with 2,289 points last week. Reaching the semifinals after three wins including a 7-6(7), 7-5 quarterfinal escape against world No. 81 Antonia Ruzic, Eala now sports 2,327 points. The 21-year-old netter eclipsed former No. 16 in 4-time Grand Slam champ Naomi Osaka who has 2,315. Hong Kong No. 2 seed Eala was set to face world No. 30 and No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. A win against the former world No. 3 would not only give a final spot to Eala but also push her another career-high rank No. 15. The live rankings indicated that Eala's next total points after a semis win would be 2,392. That would be enough for Eala to overtake current No. 15 Sorana Cirstea who has 2,386 points. Hong Kong top seed Cirstea couldn't pad her total points anymore since she fell to world No. 136 Alexandra Shubladze in their quarterfinal encounter, 2-6, 3-6. If Eala goes on to win the Hong Kong tournament, she will raise her total to 2,479 points albeit she won't go higher than No. 15 since No. 14 Elise Mertens has 2,540. Thus, Eala will end her season with a ranking of either No. 16 or No. 15. That is a 34 or 35-rank improvement from her No. 50 finish last year. If Eala gets past Sakkari, she will either face Shubladze or world No. 102 Claire Liu in the final on Sunday.  Eala has two titles this 2026 season - a 125-tier Birmingham Open last June and her first main Tour title in 500 D.C. Open last August.