FILIPINO tennis ace Alexandra “Alex” Eala ousted former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan, 6-4, 6-2, to reach her first 500 WTA Tour final at the Mubadala D.C. Open at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center Stadium Court in Washington Sunday morning in Manila.
Eala racked up three straight games, including a service hold, to finish the semifinal encounter against the 4-time major champion in 1 hour and 16 minutes, much to the delight of the Filipino-dominated crowd.
“I’m super happy. I think I played really well and, of course, it’s such a meaningful match against a great player, so I’m really happy to share the court with Naomi,” said Eala in the court interview.
“Like I said, it’s such an honor to share the court with her, but I think it’s just the way I approach today’s match; I could never count her out. Like I said, I had to be so locked in; I made it a point to be locked in, which is why until now I’m still in that mode of competition so I need time to let it sink in.”
“I’m super proud of my performance,” Eala said. “I played really well, and I had a great mentality, and I stayed locked in until the end.”
Eala, set to jump to a career-best 24th in the world rankings, had previously ousted second seed Elina Svitolina for her sixth top-10 victory of the year after dethroning 2025 Washington champion Leylah Fernandez.
It was the first meeting of the Asian stars, Eala facing one of the idols of her youth.
“She definitely has an aura, and she definitely has power,” Eala said of Osaka.
“I remember watching her finals in the Australian Open and US Open, so really a great experience to share the court with her.
“I’m really happy I was able to produce that level against her.”
Osaka, ranked 13th, was thwarted in her bid for an eighth WTA title and first since taking the 2021 Australian Open.
“I hit a lot of unforced errors, so that was probably one of the main reasons (for losing),” Osaka said.
Eala fell to Pegula in her breakout tournament at the Miami Open semifinal last year, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3.
Pegula, seeking her 12th WTA title and third of the year, eliminated Russia’s Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Pegula said of the final. “Alex, I’m a big fan of hers. She’s the future of the tour, and she’s already here.”
Pegula, who won her first WTA title in 2019 at Washington, fell behind 5-2 against Schnaider, but the 32-year-old American top seed battled back to reach her fourth final of the year.
A semi-finalist at this year’s Australian Open, Pegula has lifted trophies at Dubai and Charleston this season.
Pegula defeated Diana Shnaider in the other semis pairing, 7-5, 6-4.
A 2-time 125-tier champ, this D.C. tournament is Eala’s second chance to win a main Tour title after falling to Maya Joint in the 250 Eastbourne Open last year.
Negating her relatively weaker serve with tricky and nifty point construction, Eala posted a near-perfect 8-of-9 (89 percent) in service games won, which she capped after a short rally with an Osaka return that sailed outside the baseline.
The 21-year-old also broke the 28-year-old Osaka’s serve four times out of nine (44 percent).
In comparison, the big-serving Osaka posted 56 percent (5/9) service games won and only 11 percent (1/9) return games won.
With the win, Eala raised her total ranking points to 1,931 in the live rankings, where she reset her career best from No. 25 on Saturday to No. 24.
Eala could make it to the top 20 if she goes on to win the D.C. tournament, with the live rankings stating she could earn a total of 2,106 points.
Eala defeated Zheng Qinwen of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round; dethroned defending champ Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the second, 6-2, 7-6(1); and repeated over Elian Svitolina in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-4.
