ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA won a title the last time she trailed a set in a WTA finale.
And come hell or high water, she’s out to replicate that feat even at the jaws of world No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States for the crown of the Mubadala DC Open in Washington D.C.
Heavy downpour halted the match thrice in the drizzling US capital in the wee hours of Monday, giving Ms. Eala a chance to flip the script after Ms. Pegula’s hot start in the resumption at early Tuesday morning (Manila time).
Overall, the Mubadala organizers suspended the match for nine hours at the stadium center court of the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center before deciding tho shelve it for good and move it to a new schedule.
And that might be the opening the 21-year-old Filipina is waiting to pounce on in order to escape with an elusive WTA Tour title over the 11-time WTA champ.
Ms. Eala, WTA No. 28, leads the second set at 2-1 after holding her first two serves, needing to take it all the way through to force a decider after Ms. Pegula’s 6-4 win in the opener.
A slight momentum is on Ms. Eala’s side and an extra day of rest after a rigid schedule packed by big wins over former champions in the Olympics, WTA Tour, Washington and Grand Slam, to extend the match and possibly win it all.
Good thing for Ms. Eala, she’s been in this situation before.
Ms. Eala lost the first set to WTA No. 41 Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia before hacking out the next two, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, to reign supreme in the WTA 125 Birmingham for her second pro title two months ago.
That come-from-behind win snapped Ms. Eala’s long dry spell against Czech players after 13 foiled attempts.
Her other win in Guadalajara, also a 125 tourney, was considered a tour challenger, making the DC Open her first crack at a 500-tour level crown.
Overall, Ms. Eala has won three of her last four matches, where she dropped the first set, in the past month with her only defeat coming at the hands of world No. 17 Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon Round of 16, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6.
It was also in Wimbledon where she essayed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 comeback win against WTA No. 87 Maya Joint of Australia, her tormentor in the finals of the Eastbourne last year.
In Washington, Ms. Eala also shrugged off a flat start in beating Paris Olympics champion Zheng Qinwen, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, of China before making short work of reigning DC champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada, WTA Tour Finals winner Elina Svitolina and four-time major winner Naomi Osaka of Japan via sweeps.
Czech curse snapped, Wimbledon history etched, vengeance exacted, but she’s not done yet.
Ms. Pegula last year also dictated the first set for a gutsy win against Ms. Eala, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, in the Miami Open Final Four that served as Ms. Eala’s international arrival from being a wildcard and then No. 140 ranked player.
Better, bolder and fiercer now than she was before, Ms. Eala is bent on defying the odds and change the course of history — rain or shine.
“Going into this tournament, I looked at the list, and it was jam-packed. It was big player after big player after big player. So, to be in the final really means a lot to me,” said Ms. Eala ahead of the finals.
Win or lose though, Ms. Eala is assured of a string of feats for Philippine tennis once more.
Ms. Eala, in her first hard-court swing match as preparation for the US Open on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, is bound to reach a new career-best ranking at No. 24 in the WTA with 256 additional points for a total of 1931 plus a sure purse of $155,000 (around P9.5 million).
She could climb to as high as No. 20 with a heftier prize of $252,000 (around P15.4 million) if she wins it all against the 32-year-old American.
Can she? — John Bryan Ulanday