Alexandra Eala gained her DC debut and can play defending champion Leylah Fernandez for a QF spot.
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Photograph credit score: Jeff Dean/Wick Images for Mubadala DC Open
Sliding behind the baseline like a commuter chasing a departing prepare, Zheng Qinwen waved her racquet in useless because the ball blurred by her.
Down a set and a break, Alexandrea Eala repeatedly crashed drives down the road to present the Olympic gold-medal champion the runaround.
The Eala specific raced by way of 9 of the final 10 video games roaring previous Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a profitable Washington, DC debut.
“I feel it’s positively a mindset that you’ve got. That being mentioned, I feel it’s been educated or I’ve practiced,” Eala mentioned of her fight-back. “I’ve had extra expertise now to implement that mindset on the larger stage.
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“I assume that simply comes additionally with the extent of my tennis getting larger since you all the time wish to win, and also you all the time wish to struggle. However I feel now with the progress I’ve had this previous yr, I’ve a bit extra of ammunition to again it up, yeah.”
Attacking her pictures with conviction, Eala transformed six of eight break factors and withstood 14 aces from former world No. 4 Zheng on a steamy day on the Mubadala DC Open.
Empowered by her run to the Wimbledon fourth spherical that noticed her toppled defending-champion Iga Swiatek alongside the best way, the 21-year-old Filipina phenom performed off the entrance foot extra steadily—and confirmed a stronger sense of self perception—surging by way of the ultimate set.
The left-handed Eala streaked by way of eight of the primary 9 factors within the remaining set as she charged out to a 4-0 lead.
The pair traded breaks within the fifth and sixth video games earlier than Eala closed a sweaty two hour, 26-minute battle on her first match level.
The Twenty eighth-ranked Eala improves to 24-17 on the season.
“After all, you’re going to do all the pieces you possibly can to win, however it’s a must to anticipate that she’s going to make it tough for you, and it’s a must to do your greatest to make it tough for her,” Eala mentioned. “I feel that’s type of the essence of tennis.
“The essence of competitors is you’re making an attempt to make the opposite particular person uncomfortable; they’re making an attempt to do the identical. It’s only a backwards and forwards, proper, yeah.”
Wild card Zheng, whose rating has dropped to No. 123, suffered her third opening-round exit in her final six tournaments.
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The victory vaults 2025 Miami semifinalist Eala right into a showdown vs. reigning champion Leylah Fernandez for a Washington, DC quarterfinal spot.
The seventh-seeded Fernandez swept Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4 to attain her sixth straight win in Washington, DC yesterday.
The primary strike will probably be essential within the second profession conflict between Eala and Fernandez.
Of their lone prior assembly, Fernandez swept Eala, 6-1, 6-4, on the purple clay of Stuttgart in April. Dealing with Eala on her favored onerous courts poses a harder take a look at, Fernandez mentioned.
“Alex, she’s having an amazing yr, profitable some powerful matches, coming off an important Wimbledon run,” Fernandez mentioned. “It’s going to be a tricky match.
“For myself, I’m simply going to focus alone sport and what I can do to neutralize [her] and make [her] uncomfortable.”
Richard Pagliaro. Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He’s a graduate of New York College and has lined professional tennis for greater than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and labored as a author/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.
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