Alexandra Eala has added another milestone to a breakthrough 2025 season, becoming the first woman from the Philippines to enter the WTA Top 50. The 20-year-old climbed from No. 51 to No. 50 after her run in Hong Kong, where she reached the second round and pushed Victoria Mboko to a deciding set before falling 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Mboko eventually took the title and moved into the Top 20. After their match Mboko reflected on the challenge of facing a friend: “It’s never easy to play one of your friends,” Mboko said. “I’ve known her for such a long time, so that made it a little emotional.

“I had to fight for every point. It was just an unbelievable match.” That performance was sufficient to lift Eala into the Top 50 on the latest rankings update.

Eala’s season has been defined by several firsts for her country. In March she became the first woman from the Philippines to reach the Top 100 in WTA rankings history after a run that included a WTA 1000 semifinal in Miami. That Miami breakthrough also produced the country’s first Top 30 victory, and Eala recorded three Top 30 wins on that stretch, including victories over two Top 5 opponents, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek, as part of a run that saw her rise to No. 75.

A few months later in Eastbourne she became the first woman from the Philippines to reach a WTA final, where she lost a tight match to Australia’s Maya Joint, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10), after holding four match points. At the US Open she became the first woman from the Philippines in the Open Era to win a main draw match at a major, beating Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11). That victory was her fourth Top 20 win of the year.

The new Top 50 ranking caps a season of landmark achievements for Eala and represents a significant step for Philippine women’s tennis.

Victoria Mboko has completed a rapid rise up the WTA rankings, moving from No. 21 to No. 18 after capturing the Hong Kong title. The Canadian teenager began the year at No. 333 and climbed into the Top 100 after Wimbledon. She then reached the Top 50 following her first WTA title in Montreal and now makes her Top 20 debut with a second tour-level trophy in Hong Kong.

Mboko becomes just the sixth Canadian to reach the Top 20 since WTA rankings began in 1975. Her progress over the season is a clear escalation: No. 333 at the start of the year to No. 18 now after two WTA titles.

Other winners at last week’s WTA events also saw significant moves. Anna Blinkova, who won in Jiujiang for her second WTA title, jumped 32 places from No. 95 to No. 63. Blinkova is a former No. 34. Janice Tjen, who claimed her maiden WTA title in Chennai and became the first Indonesian to win a WTA title since 2002, rose from No. 82 to No. 53, surpassing her previous high of No. 80. Tjen also passed former No. 55 Angelique Widjaja to become the second-highest-ranked Indonesian in WTA history, behind former No. 19 Yayuk Basuki.

On the ATP side, Jannik Sinner returned to No. 1 after winning the lone ATP event in Paris, taking the top spot back from Carlos Alcaraz and beginning his 66th career week at No. 1. Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Paris finalist who lost to Sinner, moved from No. 10 to No. 8, his highest ranking since April 2023 and two spots shy of his career high of No. 6. Alexander Bublik reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal before losing to Auger-Aliassime and rose from No. 16 to No. 13, marking his Top 15 debut.

Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, coming off an ATP 500 title in Basel and a second-round showing in Paris, climbed from No. 28 to No. 24 for his Top 25 debut. Valentin Vacherot, who had jumped from No. 204 to No. 40 after winning in Shanghai, moved from No. 40 to No. 30 after extending a Masters 1000 winning streak to 10 matches en route to the Paris quarterfinals.

Victoria Mboko moved closer to a Top 20 debut by reaching consecutive quarterfinals with a gritty win over friend and rival Alexandra Eala in Hong Kong. The 19-year-old No. 3 seed recovered from a slow start to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on Thursday.

Mboko trailed 1-4 in the deciding set before winning the final five games to complete the comeback. The match carried added emotion because of the players’ friendship. “It’s never easy to play one of your friends. I’ve known her for such a long time, so that made it a little emotional,” Mboko said in her on-court interview. “I really had to fight for every single point. I think it was just an unbelievable match.”

The connection between the two was visible after the match, including a second embrace as the Filipino exited the court. As Mboko told the WTA’s website, “We’ll go and get bubble tea together, we do the most wholesome things together.” That camaraderie did not spare either player from fierce competition on court, and Mboko’s ability to find momentum in the final set proved decisive.

August brought Mboko her first tour-level crown with an extraordinary run to the WTA 1000 title in Montreal. A four-match losing streak followed that triumph, but the Canadian has steadied her form as the season nears its conclusion. The Hong Kong result extends her recent run and positions her to make a leap up the rankings.

Reflecting on the week, Mboko said, “It’s my first Asia swing, first time in Hong Kong. I hope to go for it all,” signaling her intent as she advances through the tournament and closes in on a possible Top 20 debut.