Building greatness
Alex Eala and her countless fans will look back at the Mubadala DC Open for the many things that made the tournament special.
The gauntlet of players Eala had to run through. The Filipino community that turned every match into a home game for its beloved star. The breakthrough trophy that allowed her to make history.
“Me and my first,” Eala wrote on her social media account where she posted a carousel of photos taken from her 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over world No. 3 Jessica Pegula on Monday in Washington.
What she will take from her triumph, though, is something else.
Eala’s victory gave her more than just a page of history—she became the first Filipino ever to win on the WTA Tour. She added something more valuable to her developing game, one whose cracks she is patiently patching as she continues her climb to greatness.
In a tournament where she showed she can efficiently work behind a much-scrutinized serve, Eala continued building on her experience in playing big matches—which should come handy as she dives deeper into the North American hardcourt circuit.
“I think to have this many matches at this very high level [against] high-caliber players, it helps me obviously just gain experience and more court time at that [high] level,” Eala said after the match. “And I think inevitably [that helps in] propelling my progression and the level of my game.”
Eala described the bracket she tore through en route to the title as “steep”—and she wasn’t exaggerating.
To win her first WTA crown, Eala defeated reigning Olympic gold medalist Zheng Quinwen, defending DC champion Leylah Fernandez, and the tournament’s top three seeds: world No. 9 Elina Svitolina, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, and top seed Pegula.
“It was a very steep hill [to climb],” Eala said.
But it was a climb that had benefits.
“If you spend time at that kind of zone, the more time you spend, I believe the better you get and the more consistent you get,” the world No. 20 said. “So it’s all these matches and all these hours are [added] experience in the bag.”
That growth is matched by the improvement of her physical skills.
Eala’s service game, which has been discussed a lot as a deficit of sorts, has evolved into something deceptively useful.
She couldn’t hammer out an ace against Pegula, but she won 38 of 45 points (84.4 percent) behind her first serve. She won all 16 points on her first serve in the second set. Her second set wasn’t as surgical as it was against Osaka, but it is becoming apparent that her serve is not an outright weakness.
In the third set, Eala won nine of 11 points behind her first serve and three of four on her second.
Eala’s returns remained at an elite level in the final. She won 20 of 46 points played behind Pegula’s first serve and converted on five of nine break opportunities.
“She’s beaten quite a few top players this year, including myself and she’s tricky to play against,” Pegula said.
“She kind of baits you with her lefty serve.”
“I’ve seen her in the gym a lot. I think she’s trying to work on getting stronger and moving a little bit better, and I think that’s stuff that’s probably just gonna come with time,” she added.
And Eala is ready to put all that she has learned from her milestone championship as she competes in the Canadian Open, a 1000 event, and the US Open in New York.
“I think I ended the tournament in better shape than I started,” the 21-year-old star said. “You know, I think each match I kept improving and kept learning things about myself.
“So definitely gives me a lot of confidence and it’s just really nice to see all the things that I’ve been working on off court or during training being implemented in matches.”
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