Alexandra Eala became the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour title after ruling the Mubadala DC Open in Washington D.C.
The 21-year old rising star completed her breakthrough run in the WTA 500 event with a come from behind 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 triumph over world no.3 and top seed Jessica Pegula in the rain-delayed finale.
Down by a set, Eala completely turned the game around in the second frame as she won 16 of 16 first serve points. From 4-4, Eala strung together a dominant eight-game stretch, where she dropped just 10 points en route to avenging her 2025 Miami semis loss to USA’s Pegula.
The victory, Eala’s seventh against a Top 10 opponent this season, handed the Filipina ace her biggest paycheck of $252,000 or about P15.3 million.
Eala’s payback against Pegula was also the perfect way to cap an outstanding week that included stunning victories over reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, defending titlist Leylah Fernandez of Canada, no. 2 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, and no. 3 Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Alex Eala reached another career milestone after breaking into the WTA Top 20 for the first time following her maiden WTA Tour singles title at the Washington Open.
In the latest WTA rankings released on Tuesday, Eala climbed eight places to a career-high no.20 after earning an additional 500 ranking points – the biggest single-tournament haul of her career that boosted her total to 2,106 ranking points.
The latest jump is also Eala’s biggest rise in the rankings since February this year, when she surged from no.47 to no.31 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
There will be no rest for the weary, however, as Eala is already set to open her Canadian Open campaign tomorrow against American world no.71 Alycia Parks at the Sobeys Stadium in Toronto.
This will be a rematch of their 2026 Australian Open first-round clash, where Parks defeated Eala 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 last January in Melbourne.
Eala had an early exit in the WTA 1000 event last year after losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the opening round.
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