Alex Eala's stardom has grown exponentially over the past month.
Since arriving in North America in July, she has collected wins over high-level opponents and continued to show that her rise is far from slowing down.
Now, all roads lead to New York.
The US Open, the final Grand Slam of the calendar year, presents Eala with perhaps her biggest opportunity yet to cement herself among the sport's elite.
The Filipina enters Flushing Meadows after a remarkable month that saw her capture her first WTA Tour title, at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington in early August, and climb to a career-high No. 20 in the world rankings.
She followed that breakthrough with early exits in Toronto and Cincinnati, but those defeats have done little to erase the momentum she built in Washington.
Eala knows momentum only goes so far, however.
"Momentum is a thing, I guess, but it's not concrete and it doesn't give you any 100% answers," Eala said during her Cincinnati Open press conference. "A lot of matches can help with your confidence, but it doesn't guarantee anything."
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Alex Eala's chance to climb the WTA rankings
The US Open offers Eala another opportunity to strengthen her case as one of the sport's brightest young stars.
The tournament champion earns 2,000 WTA ranking points, while the runner-up receives 1,300. Semifinalists earn 780, quarterfinalists 430, and round-of-16 finishers 240. On the other hand, players exiting in the round of 32, round of 64 and first round earn 130, 70 and 10 points, respectively.
Hence a deep run could push Eala firmly toward the Top 15 and potentially even higher. The Top 10 is not out of the question, although reaching that level will require a significant run in New York and unexpectedly early exits from players ranked ahead of her.
For now, the more realistic goal is simply to break into the Top 15 and establish herself as a consistent Top 20 player.
Litmus test
Wimbledon provided the clearest evidence yet that Eala belongs at the Grand Slam level.
She reached the second week and became the first Filipino in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 of a Grand Slam, beating then world No. 2 Iga Swiatek along the way.
But the results only tell part of the story.