MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala raised her winning record against top 10 players to 9-4 after defeating world No. 3 Jessica Pegula at the Mubadala D.C. Open final, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in Washington early Tuesday in Manila.
The victory that clinched Eala's maiden title is also her fifth straight against top 10 players.
After falling to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina at the Italian Open last May, Eala started her winning run with a payback win against the same player at the Berlin Open second round, 7-5, 6-4, on June 18.
Eala made it back-to-back with a victory over then world No. 8 Svitolina in the Berlin quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4, on June 20.
The 21-year-old Eala picked up her third straight win against a top 10 player in the Wimbledon third round, where she defeated then world No. 3 and defending champ Iga Swiatek, 7–6(9), 6–2.
Eala repeated over world No. 10 (now world No. 9) Svitolina in Mubadala D.C. quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4, before getting her fifth straight at Pegula's expense.
Eala's other wins against top 10 players include a 6-4, 6-2 win over then world No. 5 Madison Keys at the 2025 Miami Open round of 64, former world No. 2 Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in the quarterfinals of the same tournament, ex-world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini at the 2026 Dubai Championships second round, 6–1, 7–6(5), and world No. 4 Coco Gauff in the Indian Wells third round, 6-2, 2-0 (Gauff retired due to injury) last March.
Meanwhile, Eala's defeats against top 10 players were a 6-7, 7-5, 3-6 loss to then world No. 4 Pegula at the 2025 Miami Open semifinal, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 to then ex-world No. 2 Swiatek in the 2025 Madrid Open round of 64, 0-6, 2-6 to world No. 4 Gauff in the Dubai Championships quarterfinals, and a 4-6, 3-6 round of 32 loss to world No. 2 Rybakina at the Italian Open last May.
