Filipina tennis trailblazer Alex Eala continued her giant-slaying ways, dominating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the women’s final of the Mubadala DC Open on Sunday, August 2 Philippine time at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, DC.
The 21-year-old Eala displayed a remarkable performance against the former world number one from Japan to reach the final of a WTA 500 tournament for the first time and move a win away from the biggest title of her professional tennis career.
‘I think I played really well and of course, such a meaningful match against a great player. Really happy to share the court against Naomi,’ said Eala in the post-match interview.
Interestingly, the world No.28 Eala did not drop a set since ousting Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen
of China in her opening match.
The pride of Quezon City then dethroned Leylah Fernandez of Canada before seeing off world No.10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
After eliminating world No.13 Osaka, Eala will now brace for a much tougher challenge against the third-ranked American Jessica Pegula, her former tormentor, in a mouth-watering final showdown on Monday, August 3.
Eala lost to Pegula at the Miami Open semifinals last year in their only meeting so far.
Pegula, who is gunning for her 12th WTA crown and third of the year after lifting trophies in Dubai and Charleston, booted out Russian Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4.
‘It’s going to be a battle,’ Pegula said in a report by Agence France Presse. ‘Alex, I’m a big fan of her. She’s the future of the tour and she’s already here.’