FILIPINO tennis sensation Alexandra “Alex” Eala is set to clash with 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Mubadala DC Open on Saturday morning (Manila Time) at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, Washington, D.C., United States.
Even though Eala, who is ranked 28th in the world, is considered an underdog against the world No. 10 Svitolina, the Filipina holds a 1-0 advantage in their head-to-head matchup after defeating the Ukrainian, 6-3, 6-4, at the Berlin Open last June.
Eala punched a quarterfinals ticket in Washington after surviving a grueling second set battle against last year’s champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada to prevail, 6-1, 7-6, in the round of 16.
“I think everything’s kind of a blur right now. I really made an effort to stay in the moment. And I was ready for everything that could have happened. Luckily, it went my way,” Eala acknowledged after crawling back from a 1-5 deficit over Fernandez, whose mother is from the Philippines.
Now facing the higher-seeded and more seasoned Svitolina in the quarterfinals, Eala is aware that her opponent has vengeance in mind. Still, the 21-year-old Filipina remains unfazed. ”I think it’s just part of my character. But then again, every single player here is a fighter. All of us here are fighters. Whether it’s my opponent today, yesterday, tomorrow, you can never count anybody out,” Eala said.
The 31-year-old Svitolina, who received a first-round bye, outplayed No. 108 Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, on Friday morning to march into the quarterfinal round.
Svitolina is the highest-ranked Ukrainian player in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, reaching a career-high of No. 3 on Sept. 11, 2017.
The Ukrainian’s recent achievement was topping the 2026 Italian Open in Rome, marking her biggest tournament victory in the WTA Tour since 2018.
She claimed five high-level titles, including three crowns at the Italian Open in Rome (2017, 2018 and 2026).
On the other hand, Eala captured the 2026 Birmingham Open title (WTA 125) last June 7.
On record, Eala has reached a unique feat of scoring victories over all three 2024 Paris Olympic medalists after defeating gold medalist Qinwen Zheng in Washington, silver medalist Donna Vekic in the ASB Classic, and Berlin Open and bronze medalist Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon this year.
If Eala can hurdle past Svitolina, she will next face the winner of the match between No. 13 Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 71 Elisa Cocciaretto of Italy in the semifinal round.
