WTA rankings: Eala climbs into the top 20

Eight. That is how many places Alexandra Eala climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from No. 28 to a career-best No. 20, after she won the Washington title. She is the only player to enter the top 20 this week, on a list that also pushed three more names into the top 100.

Eala won the Washington title, beating Jessica Pegula in the final. She is 21, and she began the week ranked 28th. The run lifted her eight places to No. 20, her best ranking.

The longest climb of the week belonged to Kristina Liutova, the 16-year-old Memphis champion, up 103 places from 229 to a career-best 126. Laura Samson, 18, who won the Targu Mures Challenger, rose 30 places to 123, her best ranking too. Three more players moved into the top 100. Darja Vidmanova, 23, reached the Memphis final and rose from 114 to 92, matching the No. 92 that already stood as her career high. Kaitlin Quevedo, 20, was the runner-up at the Targu Mures Challenger and rose from 103 to 94, her best ranking. Anastasia Zakharova reached the Memphis quarter-finals and rose from 101 to 99. Elsewhere, results in Washington carried Liudmila Samsonova up to No. 55, Ashlyn Krueger to No. 58 and Magdalena Frech to No. 45.

At the top, nothing changed hands. Aryna Sabalenka stayed No. 1 without playing, her lead over Elena Rybakina standing at 494 points. The rest of the top 10 held its places except for one swap: Elina Svitolina, who lost to Eala in the Washington quarter-finals, moved up to No. 9 as Amanda Anisimova slipped to No. 10.

Ranking tale, 3 August 2026, sources: WTA rankings, api-tennis