The Philippines erupted in cheers as the country’s tennis darling, Alex Eala, won her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title in spectacular fashion in Washington, DC, on Monday (Aug 3, US time)
Social media in the country lit up in the wee hours of Tuesday (Aug 4, Philippine time) as the Filipina ace eked out a come-from-behind victory against top seed Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the rain-delayed final of the Mubadala (Washington) DC Open.
Eala fan Mando Pangyarihan congratulated the newly-crowned champion for her hard work and determination, adding she is “an inspiration to many Filipinos around the world.”
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Basketball coach Peter Lopez described Alex as a new living sporting legend in the Philippines.
Thousands of Filipinos watched the finals between Eala and Pegula even after the match’s suspension on Sunday night (US time) due to heavy and sustained rainfall. Top-seed Pegula was leading 6-4, 1-2 when the contest was halted.
The Filipina tennis star seized control when the match resumed on Monday. She won the final nine games, including a dominant 6-0 third set where she dropped just eight points.
Alvin Elvino expressed amazement at Eala’s “incredible confidence and determination to win under extreme pressure.” He added: “Alex Eala is really special.”
‘Crazy 24-hours’
Alex confessed to WTA that the bad weather brought about “a crazy 24 hours,” and the highest-stakes rain delay of her career so far. “I think I warmed up a thousand times,” she said. “It was difficult… At the same time, it’s happened to me a lot; rain delays, a lot of times in my life,” she added.
The 21-year old said that the delay allowed her to assess her performance in the match prior to the match’s suspension. “I think I was able to take my time and take those learnings from the first half of the match and do my best to apply them in the second, she said.
“I think it worked pretty well,” she added.
Highest-ranking Filipino
The Washington DC Open is Alex’s biggest career milestone, her first WTA 500 singles title. Her previous victory was at 2025 Guadalajara Open, a WTA 125 event for lower-ranked or developing players.
But she had been steadily climbing up the ranks since turning pro in 2020, including notching the first Grand Slam main-draw singles win for a Filipino at the 2025 US Open.
In her last appearance in a tour-level singles final, however, Eala came up agonizingly short. She had four championship points against Maya Joint at the Lexus Eastbourne Open last year, but fell in a third-set tiebreak.
It was at Mubadala on Monday, however, that she showed she has what it takes to hoist a winner’s trophy. She beat three seeds in four rounds – No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina, No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka, and No. 7 seed and defending champion Leylah Fernandez. Alex also bested 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen on her way to the final. WTA reported that with wins against Svitolina and Pegula, Alex is now tied with Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina with seven Top 10 victories this season.
“The left-hander is also projected to break into the Top 20 in the PIF WTA Rankings for the first time,” WTA said.
Milestone for Philippine sports
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. congratulated the country’s biggest sports star on her victory, calling it another “historic milestone for Philippine sports.”
In a post immediately after the match, Marcos’ social media pages said Alex “continues to redefine what is possible for Philippine tennis.” The President added that the entire nation celebrates Eala’s latest achievement, describing it as a source of pride for every Filipino.
A sports-crazy country, the Philippines has world champions in boxing, bowling, billiards, power-lifting and gymnastics that are mostly individual events, except for Little League Baseball.
The Southeast Asian country is not known for team events, however, and has only won a World Championship bronze for basketball, its most popular sport.
Source: Khaleej Times