'Most exciting player' Eala shows 'Filipino heart' to make history

'Most exciting player' Eala shows 'Filipino heart' to make history

Image source, EPA

Image caption, Alexandra Eala had a tough route to the title, having to defeat Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula

BySophie Trifonoff

BBC Sport journalist

As the umpire called the winning point, Alexandra Eala collapsed to the ground in tears - knowing her country had been with her for every step of the tournament.

She overcame weather delays, and the loss of the first set, to defeat world number three Jessica Pegula in the Washington Open final, becoming the first Filipina to win a WTA title.

"To the Filipino community, here in DC and back home, wherever you are in the world. I really feel all the love."

Even Pegula was impressed by the turnout on Monday, for the continuation of Sunday's final.

"I can definitely confirm this is the best Monday final crowd I've seen," the American said. "I'm sure some people took off work. I won't tell them where you guys were."

Former world number one Rafael Nadal, whose academy Eala graduated from, congratulated her on the win, writing on X: "A well-deserved title for all the hard work."

'The future of the tour'

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Eala lost just three games once the final resumed on Monday

Despite only being 21 years old, this has been a long time coming for Eala.

She first started playing at the age of four, saying: "I went to train every day after school with my ruffled socks, light-up shoes and chubby cheeks."

Going on to join Nadal's tennis academy, she had the opportunity to train with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

She graduated from there in 2023, having her diploma presented to her by the world number one at the time, Iga Swiatek.

Three years later, Eala knocked the Pole out of Wimbledon - becoming the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

Her improvement has been visible, beating the top three seeds at the Washington Open.

After defeating third seed Naomi Osaka, Pegula described the world number 20 as "the future of the tour".

'Our new champion'

In 2022, Eala was on the cover of Vogue Philippines after becoming the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam title.

But it was her victory over Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in 2025, that brought a new passion for tennis to the Philippines.

There has been a lot of love for the young star from her community, with queues to see her play growing and fans following her all over the world.

There are more than 75,000 members of the Filipino community in Washington, with a further four million across the US who will be watching her in the US Open in late August.

"To all the Filipino fans that came out and have supported, you guys are helping grow tennis around the world," Pegula said after the match.

Fellow Filipino and former boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, wrote on social media that her comeback showed the "heart of a Filipino" before calling her "our new champion".

Image source, EPA

Image caption, Eala's strong Filipino fanbase continues to grow with each tournament

Former British number one Greg Rusedski has hailed Eala as "the most exciting player on the WTA Tour".

"She is fearless, she takes the ball early, she is a lefty," he said on his podcast Off Court With Greg Rusedski. "Her mentality is so good and so strong."

"The one area she needs in her game to win a major is to get that serve a bit better and more powerful.

"Maybe next year if she can get that improvement on the serve then she's definitely in the mix [for a major] because the rest of her game is there."

US Open champion and former world number one Andy Roddick described her as "the real deal".

"She is just not scared to go against the top players," he said.

"For some reason what she does with switching directions and accepting pace and pinning people in corners, she is a name nobody wants to see early in a draw as a top player."