Alex Eala courageously bounced back after losing the first set to beat reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and reach the second round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open 2026 on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, July 29 Philippine time) at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, DC.
‘Just being patient and being brave, waiting for my opportunities,’ Eala said in a report by Agence France Presse.
‘It was a very difficult match. I was at some difficult points but I’m happy with how I was able to turn it,’ the World No.28 Eala added after vanquishing the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng in a grueling duel that lasted two hours and 26 minutes.
Eala thus completed her conquest of all three women’s singles medalists from the Paris Games. She achieved the feat in a span of just five weeks.
The 21-year-old pride of Quezon City first outlasted silver medalist Donna Vekic of Croatia at the Berlin Open on June 17 and then shocked bronze medalist Iga Swiatek of Poland at Wimbledon last July 4.
As of this writing, Eala was still battling it out with the seventh-seeded defending champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada for a place in the quarterfinals.
Eala seeks payback against Fernandez, who defeated her at the Stuttgart Open back in April.