Eala claims maiden WTA singles title

MEN’S WINNER: Taylor Fritz of the US defeated Rafael Jodar of Spain, despite letting four opportunities at match point slip away in a slugfest in the final game

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Few young players on the WTA Tour have experienced the level of expectation and support that Alexandra Eala has received since she earned a place on the elite women’s circuit, and on Monday the Filipina showed what all the fuss is about by winning the Washington Open.

Eala capped her breakthrough run by rallying to defeat top-seeded Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in a rain-interrupted final that began on Sunday, becoming the first woman from her country to claim a tour-level singles crown.

Along the way, the 21-year-old beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, last year’s winner Leylah Fernandez, second-seeded Elina Svitolina and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, victories that which will mark her out as a dangerous outsider for the US Open, which is scheduled to start with qualifying on Aug. 23.

Eala and Pegula on Sunday traded breaks midway through the opening set, with Pegula breaking again at 4-4 and serving out the set at love. The players held through the opening three games of the second set before heavy rain suspended play with Eala up 2-1.

When they returned on Monday, the momentum belonged to Eala.

She stormed back to claim the second set, then swept through the third. Eala ultimately won the final eight games of the match to secure the championship.

Eala dropped to the court with her head in her hands, overcome with emotion. Tears filled her eyes before she rose, embraced Pegula at the net and let out a triumphant scream.

“I was so nervous, and I kind of just blacked out,” Eala said. “Everything just came rushing to me.”

“It’s an incredible milestone for me,” Eala told reporters. “At the beginning of the week, there’s no way I’d have thought that I’d be holding this trophy. These things creep up on you, and I hold these moments really close to me.”

“It was a very steep hill,: she said. “Coming into the tournament, I knew that the competition was super strong and my draw was quite tough. Every match was a different set of obstacles. I’m really proud.”

“I ended the tournament in better shape than I started. Each match I kept improving and kept learning things about myself. So it definitely gives me a lot of confidence,” she said. “It’s really nice to see all the things I’ve been working on off court or during training being implemented in matches.”

Eala’s progress has been closely watched since her US Open junior triumph in 2022. Reaching the Eastbourne final last year and making the fourth round at Wimbledon last month signaled steady improvement.

As Eala’s reputation grew, so too did her following, with large groups of Filipino fans packing the stands at tournaments around the world to back a player many see as a pioneer for tennis in their country.

Her popularity was evident in the final of the WTA 500 event on Monday, with Eala’s opponent Pegula impressed by the level of support on show at the stadium.

“It’s amazing that you guys showed up and again, to all the Filipino fans that came out, you are helping grow tennis around the world,” she said. “I appreciate that being a female athlete and being in tennis, we love to see that grow.”

Eala can expect that support to continue at this week’s Canadian Open in Toronto before she heads to New York for the US Open, with the first round of the main draw scheduled for Aug. 30.

In the men’s final later on Monday, third-seeded Taylor Fritz defeated Rafael Jodar 7-6 (8/2), 6-4.

Fritz broke the Spaniard twice early in the second set and eventually converted his fifth championship point after letting four earlier opportunities slip away.

Fritz lay on the court for several moments after winning the 11th title of his career, then got to his feet with a roll of his eyes as the relief of finally closing out the match set in.

After taking control in tiebreaker in the first set, Fritz roared to a 3-0 lead with a pair of service breaks in the second.

He gave back a break in the fourth game with a double fault on break point, and Jodar climbed out of a 0-30 hole to hold serve and narrow the gap to 3-2.

However, Jodar could not find another break.

He held for 5-4 to force Fritz to serve it out, the American’s chance delayed just slightly as Jodar had treatment on his left wrist after taking a tumble in the ninth game.

The final game was a slugfest. Fritz squandered a pair of match points at 40-15 and gave himself another with a booming forehand.

Jodar fought off two more match points before earning a break point that Fritz saved with another forehand winner.

Fritz finally got the job done after 1 hour, 49 minutes, Jodar misfiring on a pair of forehands to bring it to a close.

Additional reporting by AFP

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