LONGER and longer goes this impressive list, and Alex Eala says her learning has got a longer way to go, still.
The Filipina added another Top 10 victory to her growing collection Friday, but insisted the bigger gain remains relearning what it takes to compete at tennis's highest level.
Fresh off a 6-3, 6-4 win against world No. 10 Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala DC Open, Eala improved to an eye-catching 8-4 against foes in the Top 10, while extending her head-to-head record against the Ukrainian to 2-0.
READ: Alex Eala repeats over Svitolina, marches on to DC Open semis
Another triumph over one of the world's best added to the growing perception that Eala, with career-high ranking of 28, has emerged as one of the tour's biggest threats to the elite.
The 21-year-old, though, sees something else.
"There are so many things I learned about myself: what it takes to compete at this level and hang with these Top 10 players," Eala said after the match. "It's a long learning process. I'm still at the beginning of that process."
It's all in the mind
Rather than dwell on the significance of beating another Top 10 player, Eala pointed to the mentality she carried into the match.
"I don't think it's specifically who I was up against," she said. "I came in with a great mindset. She was hitting good shots, especially in the second set, so I'm really happy I kept at it."
That comment reflected how Eala has come to approach these situations.
"When I'm facing a Top 10, I know it's going to be a tough match. There's a level of focus I need to reach and if I don't reach that, the chances drop," she said in a different interview.
"I like to seize the opportunities that I have and it happened that I played pretty well during the times I played Top 10, so that's also intentional and because of the preparation I put in weeks before the match and right before. It's just about the mentality," she continued.
That attitude has helped Eala build one of the more noteworthy records, with wins at the expense of Top 10 players Madison Keys, Iga Swiatek twice, Jasmine Paolini, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Svitolina twice.
Her four defeats, meanwhile, came against Gauff, Swiatek, Paolini and Jessica Pegula.
Yet Eala refuses to treat all these Top 10 victories as career-defining moments.
Instead, each one has become another lesson in the learning curve of a player who believes she is only beginning to understand what competing with the world's best truly demands.
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