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Alex Eala +3 in WTA Rankings after Cincinnati Open win as her next opponent is confirmed Alex Eala is set to ascend to a new milestone ranking position after she won her debut match at the Cincinnati Open to progress to the third round. The Filipina star was dominating 6-1, 3-0 against world No 74 Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round in Cincinnati when her opponent retired due to injury. After losing her serve in the opening game of the match, Eala won the next nine games, breaking the 28-year-old Romanian five times in a row. She won 43 of the 62 points played in the match. Eala, who is making her first-ever appearance at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, received an opening round bye as she is the 17th seed. The 21-year-old started the Cincinnati Open at her career-high ranking of world No 20 after reaching the fourth round at the Canadian Open and securing the Washington Open title. She has now won 11 of her last 13 matches in an impressive spell that started with her reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. Alex Eala News Alex Eala ‘shouldn’t care’ about tough Cincinnati Open draw, says Grand Slam finalist Alex Eala’s full press conference as she reveals what would make a ‘successful’ Cincinnati Open Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust. How has Alex Eala’s Cincinnati Open win affected her WTA ranking? By winning her second round match in Cincinnati, Eala has collected 65 ranking points, which has taken her points total to 2,221. This has seen Eala climb three places to a projected new career-high ranking of world No 17 in the Live WTA Rankings. Who will Alex Eala play next? Eala will take on world No 10 Amanda Anisimova, who is the ninth seed in Cincinnati, in the third round at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. After her second round win against Zeynep Sonmez, Anisimova looked ahead to facing Eala. “I haven’t played her (Eala) before,” said Anisimova. “She’s been having such an incredible season, an incredible year. Very great player with a lot of fans, so I’m really looking forward to that. “I know that it’s probably going to be a very packed stadium, so I’m sure it will be really fun.” It will be Eala’s first-ever meeting with the 24-year-old American, who is a two-time Grand Slam finalist. If Eala reaches the fourth round, she will move onto 2,276 points, which would not be enough to see her overtake 16th-ranked Diana Shnaider. READ NEXT: Aryna Sabalenka replaced as No 1 as Alex Eala 23rd in alternative tennis rankings