Alex Eala’s first WTA title was also a win for her coach Joan Bosch, the Rafael Nadel Tennis Academy and 117 million Filipinos.
It often seems that the whole country is behind her, and there was patriotic joy when she won her first titles at the WTA 125 tournaments in Guadalajara last year and Birmingham this June. These titles were important steps, though the tournaments are not part of the women’s main tour, which starts at the WTA 250 level.
But her victory today at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington made her a WTA 500 champion.
Eala had been trekking towards this success with a steady trajectory.
In March last year, she made a big splash at the WTA 1000 Miami Open. Having played professionally for five years mainly at ITF level, and winning just two main tour matches, suddenly she was in the semis of a tournament only one rung down from a grand slam. At that event, she defeated World No. 2 Iga Świątek in straight sets in the quarter finals, before Jessica Pegula got the better of her in the semis, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3.
Things were quiet for a few months, until she made the final of the Eastbourne WTA 250. Maya Joint took the title, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10).
This January, Eala made the quarters at the Auckland 250, and in June, the semis at the Berlin Tennis Open 500.
Shortly after, at Wimbledon, she achieved her best grand slam result. Having got past Renata Zarazúa, Maya Joint, and defending champion Iga Świątek, her run ended in the Round of 16 with Jasmine Paolini winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Seeded 13th, the Italian avenged her defeat by Eala five months earlier in the second round of Dubai.
After heading to Washington ranked 28 in the world, Eala defeated former world No. 4 Zheng Qinwen in the first round, then defending champion Leylah Fernandez.
She eliminated 2nd seed Elina Svitolina in the quarters, with an identical score to their Berlin Tennis Open quarterfinal, 6-3, 6-4.
Next, she beat No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka in the semis, also in straight sets.
Fittingly, she met top seed Jessica Pegula in the final.
Pegula had received a bye in the first round, meaning that unseeded Eala had played one match more than her to reach the final.
Due to a forecast of storms, the final was brought forward three hours to the morning. But the rain fell just before the players were to walk on court. It was three hours before the match could begin.
Eventually, the players exchanged a break for 3-3. As Pegula struggled with her first serve, Eala had two break points to lead 5-3 but couldn’t convert them. Pegula broke, then held, to take the first set 6-4 with ten winners more than her opponent.
Into the second set, Eala was leading 2-1 on serve when the rain returned. So far the match had lasted an hour. After a couple of aborted attempts to restart, play was suspended for the day at 9pm and resumed in the sunshine of Monday.
Eala looked all business as she walked back onto the court and played that way too. She upped the pace on her shots and managed to break in the last game of the set to force a decider.
Despite a milder temperature of 29°C and far less humidity than the day before, Eala placed a bag of ice on her head and neck at the changes of ends.
While in Washington, she no longer wore the heavy strapping of recent months on her thigh and moved freely.
Throughout the tournament she returned brilliantly and played the angles to full effect.
The third set distilled all Eala’s hard work and improvement of the last year. She sustained a remarkable level of aggression and intensity. In 24 minutes, she broke Pegula three times. The No. 3 player in the world was allowed to win just eight points for the set.
Pegula kept fighting, winning the penultimate point of the last game to prevent Eala converting her first match point. For the Fillipina, it was merely a one point delay, as she claimed the trophy at her second opportunity.
Although Pegula appeared a little shellshocked by what happened in the third set, she remained gracious in defeat as always.
Eala, of course, was elated. “Oh my gosh, I’ve over the moon. I’m super happy, taking it all in right now…
“It’s been a crazy 24 hours… I think I’ve warmed up like a thousand times – a lot of unpredictable swings with the weather…
“It’s happened to me a lot, rain delays… although [today] was a lot higher stakes.
‘I think I was able to… take those learnings from the first half of the match and do my best to apply them in the second, and I think it went pretty well.
‘It’s just really nice to see all the things I’ve been working on during training being implemented in matches…
“Winning a 500 is insane. It’s an incredible milestone for me. You know, at the beginning of the week there’s no way I would have thought I’d be holding this trophy.”
Title photo by the Mubadala DC Open