Coco Gauff’s former coach gives his verdict on Alex Eala and her chances of qualifying for 2027 WTA Finals

Alex Eala hasn’t qualified for the 2026 WTA Finals.

The Filipina star enjoyed a sensational season, winning her first WTA title in Washington, but won’t join the likes of Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka in Indian Wells next month. She sits 19th in the ‘WTA Race’, and only the top eight qualify.

But can she qualify next year? During the latest episode of ‘The Big T Podcast‘, Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, named Eala among the youngsters he believes could qualify for the 2027 WTA Finals.

Brad Gilbert says Alex Eala ‘handles herself beautifully’ and thinks she could qualify for 2027 WTA Finals

“Ok, I’ll give you a few names. Iva Jovic is already the highest-ranked of the young players, so where does she go? She’s 11th in the world now, 18, almost 19. Somebody I probably thought was going to make the year-end championship this year if she wasn’t injured was [Victoria] Mboko,” said Gilbert.

“Another player I feel like is going to take a big leap in ’27 is [Nikola] Bartunkova. Czechia always seems to have players. And maybe the player I’m most interested to see where she’s going to go in ’27 – she probably has the most pressure on her of any player – is [Alex] Eala.

“Yeah, it’s going to be so interesting to see how she backs up this amazing season she’s had this year,” added Andrea Petkovic, Gilbert’s podcast co-host.

“She handles herself beautifully; from a country that’s never had any players, it’s great to see. She’s got fans that travel!” said Gilbert.

“She does. We will never be amiss for a full stadium when Alex Eala plays in 2027,” Petkovic agreed.

Eala is one of the most popular players in women’s tennis and sells out stadiums wherever she goes, and as Petkovic rightly mentioned, is likely to continue doing so in 2027, especially if she takes another step forward.

This year, Eala missed out on a WTA Finals spot by over 2,000 points. It’s a big ask for the Filipina to close that gap in 2027, but there were several positive signs for her fans to cling to.

WTA Race

• 7. Karolina Muchova – 4,735 points
• 8. Linda Noskova – 4,354 points
• 9. Iga Swiatek – 4,189 points
• 10. Marta Kostyuk – 3,920 points
• 11. Iva Jovic – 2,931 points
• 12. Maja Chwalinska – 2,755 points
• 13. Diana Shnaider – 2,613 points
• 14. Elise Mertens – 2,540 points
• 15. Victoria Mboko – 2,393 points
• 16. Sorana Cirstea – 2,380 points
• 17. Naomi Osaka – 2,297 points
• 18. Belinda Bencic – 2,162 points
• 19. Alex Eala – 2,151 points

Eala defeated seven top-10 players this season, proving herself more than capable against the very best players in the women’s game. Her peak level clearly isn’t the issue, but it’s against lower-ranked opposition that she’s struggled.

Alex Eala’s five best wins this season

Alex Eala’s five worst losses this season

She’s lost to the world number 217, 180, and 83 in the last 28 days. Those defeats aren’t acceptable for a player chasing the top-10 rankings, or a spot in the WTA Finals…

Alex Eala suffers another setback at the Ningbo Open

After struggling for form post-US Open, Eala returned to winning ways in Ningbo, defeating Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-1, in her opener. The Filipina then returned to take on the sixth seed, Diana Shnaider, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Unfortunately for Eala, she failed to reach the quarter-finals, losing to Shnaider in straight sets, 5-7, 4-6. Eala was second-best against the world number 13, suffering another early exit.

She isn’t quite done for 2026 yet, though. Eala will return to play another two tournaments before the end of the year: The Pan Pacific Open and the Hong Kong Open. She won’t be seeded in Tokyo, but will be seeded third in Hong Kong.

Will Eala double her WTA title tally before the end of the year? Only time will tell. The 2026 Pan Pacific Open begins on Monday, October 26. Belinda Bencic defeated Linda Noskova in last year’s final.