FILIPINO  tennis star Alexandra “Alex” Eala reached a career-best 53rd place in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings released Monday.

The 20-year-old improved by one spot from her previous career high of 54, achieved on October 6. Eala now has 1,131 ranking points, up from 1,123, just ahead of her campaign at the Guangzhou Open in China, where she will compete in both singles and doubles.

Eala was scheduled to start her doubles match on Monday alongside Ukrainian partner Nadia Kichenok, but the game was postponed to the following day. The pair will face the British-Chinese duo of Emily Appleton and Qianhui Tang in the round of 16. If victorious, they will move on to face either the Russian team of Kamilla Rakhimova and Polina Kudermetova or the Thai-Chinese pair Peangtarn Plipuech and Wushuang Zheng in the quarterfinals.

Kichenok, a doubles specialist with 11 career titles—including four with her twin sister Lyudmyla—is currently ranked 62nd in doubles, while Eala holds the 204th spot.

The singles draw for the tournament has yet to be released. Seeded fourth, Eala will open her singles campaign against a qualifier.

The 5-foot-9 Eala comes into Guangzhou following a first-round exit at the Japan Open on October 14, where she lost 1-6, 2-6 to eventual runner-up Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic.