Metro Manila, Philippines – Alex Eala weathered a lengthy rain delay before completing a superb comeback victory over American top seed Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, to claim her maiden WTA singles title at the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Tuesday, August 4.
Bouncing back from a set down in a match halted by heavy rain, the 21-year-old Eala returned in complete control to secure her first WTA Tour-level and WTA 500 crown.
Down 1-2 in the second set prior to the weather stoppage, Eala won four of the final six games upon resumption to force a decider before overwhelming Pegula with a dominant third-set sweep.
“Standing here in the middle of all this love, my first chance at a title, knowing it won’t be my last, and already having achieved this feat and this milestone for my career, I knew that whatever would have happened after this match, it would have already been a win for me,” Eala said during the trophy presentation.
A giant-slaying campaign
Eala’s path to the championship stood out as a gauntlet of world-class opponents.
Along the way, the Filipina star eliminated reigning Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng, defending DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez, former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina, and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka before taking down World No. 3 Pegula to lock in the biggest victory of her career.
Following her historic week in Washington, Eala has jumped to a new career-high World No. 20 in the live WTA rankings.
