A SWEET celebration can wait as Alexandra “Alex” Eala enters a quick windup in the second stop of her hard-court swing leading up to the US Open later this month.
Riding the tide of “herstoric” triumph in Washington D.C., Ms. Eala looks to settle a score with Alycia Parks of the United States — the fastest woman server in history — in Round 2 of the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada.
Ms. Parks, who shares the distinction of the fastest server in WTA history with Venus Williams (2007) at 129 miles per hour that she achieved at the 2021 US Open, essayed a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win against Ms. Eala in Round 1 of the Australian Open earlier this year.
But a better, fiercer and wiser Filipina warrior now marches into battle ready to exact vengeance like she did against a bevy of tormentors on her way to ruling the Mubadala DC Open for her first-ever WTA Tour title.
“I think I’ve improved as a player now compared to the beginning of the year,” said Ms. Eala, having only a day of breather to rev up for the big-shot American server tentatively at 8:10 a.m. on Thursday (Manila time) at center court of the Sobeys Stadium.
Ms. Eala and Ms. Parks will play in the last match of a four-bill Round 2 action, bearing a possibility of later game time.
They meet again from contrasting paths in Toronto with Ms. Eala, after netting her new career-best ranking of No. 20 and being the No. 25 seed, gaining a first-round bye.
Ms. Parks, WTA No. 71, scored a 6-4, 6-4 win over Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (WTA No. 122) in the Round of 128.
Aside from a higher ranking and seeding, Ms. Eala sports the momentum advantage to complete the revenge, with fatigue as the only downside after flying straight to Toronto from a championship pictorial at the US capitol building following her triumph in the 500-level tourney.
For Ms. Eala, celebrating her feat will be for life and for now, it’s all about trying to win the next. No rest, no quit. No retreat, no surrender.
“It’s been a crazy 24 hours. My mind’s just been going back and forth between focusing on the next match and ‘Wow, did I really just do that?’” said Ms. Eala, who beat world No. 3 and top seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the rain-delayed DC final.
“It’s a first for me so I’m learning how to handle it. But I’m playing another match so all my attention is on that. I had a day to transition. I have, I guess, all my life to celebrate my first WTA title.”
The DC Open, a 500-level tourney, was Ms. Eala’s first WTA Tour level crown after bagging two challenger titles (WTA 125 Guadalajara and WTA 125 Birmingham) and she’s well aware that the Toronto Open being a 1000-level joust will be a tougher mountain to scale — despite all of her perceived advantages against Ms. Parks.
Aside from Ms. Parks and No. 3 Ms. Pegula again, also in the fray are the titans of the sport in No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 4 Coco Gauff of the USA, and No. 5 Mirra Andreeva of Russia.
World No. 7 Linda Noskova is also in after reigning last month as the queen of Wimbledon, where Ms. Eala made history as well with a magical Round of 16 finish and the first-seeded Filipina player at any Grand Slam main draw ever.
But like in D.C. where she toppled Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, reigning DC champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada, WTA Tour Finals champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan and 11-time champion Ms. Pegula, Ms. Eala is a firm believer of her chances against any opponent.
“It’s a marker of my progress. But I don’t really place hard-set goals. I don’t really like to put a cap on what I’m able to do. My primary goal is to play good matches and at a good level,” said Ms. Eala, who tied Ms. Svitolina and Ms. Rybakina with seven wins against Top 10 players, the most this season.
“And I think the more I’m able to do that consistently, the more rewarding it will be for me. This week and the past summer have been really good in terms of that.”
After Toronto, Ms. Eala will head back to the US for the Cincinnati Open as her final hurrah before the US Open on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, New York.
But first things first and that’s trying to conquer another summit for Philippine tennis. — John Bryan Ulanday