ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA is not done yet after hoisting more than just her first-ever WTA Tour title at the US capitol.
After turning raindrops into tears of joy in a poetic blessing in disguise, Ms. Eala reached greater heights in her blossoming career and for Philippine tennis with a new career-best world ranking at No. 20.
And in a quick windup, Ms. Eala — who skyrocketed from No. 28 (2106 points) last week with 500 additional points — hopes to carry the momentum over to the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada, a WTA 1000 tour level where she has a bigger mountain to scale starting on Wednesday.
Ms. Eala, seeded No. 25 in the stacked 128-player field with a first-round bye, will face a familiar foe in qualifier Alycia Parks of the United States in the Round of 64, at a still-to-be-determined game time and court assignment at the Sobeys Stadium, on Wednesday after a majestic championship pictorial at the USA’s seat of power.
The 21-year-old Filipina has unfinished business against the WTA No. 71 Ms. Parks — a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (WTA No. 122) in the first round — after a 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 defeat in Round 1 of the Australia Open earlier this year.
But shifting her focus on to the next campaign could not dampen the grand celebration of her new milestone after reigning supreme in the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington D.C. coupled by a sweet pot of $252,000 or P15.4 million. Even for a short while.
Doing it with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over world No. 3 and tournament No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula in the rain-delayed final on Tuesday morning (Manila time), Ms. Eala vowed it’s just the first of the many.
“My first chance at the title knowing it won’t be my last, and already having achieved this feat and this milestone for my career, I knew that whatever would have happened after this match, it would have already been a win for me,” said Ms. Eala, in tears and on her knees, after Ms. Pegula’s return went out of bounds to cap a magical run much to the eruption of the stadium crowd at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.
Ms. Eala was coming from the fact of a 0-1 deficit against the 32-year-old American when play was halted on Monday morning due to heavy rains in D.C. Organizers suspended the match thrice and for a total of nine hours before deciding to postpone it to Tuesday midnight.
She said she probably warmed up a thousand times in between the resumption as one of the longest 24 hours of her lifetime and blooming international tennis career.
But as if the rains were signs from above, the little opening and extra rest was when the tide turned, the stars aligned and the sunrays of destiny finally dawned on to Ms. Eala’s favor.
A more confident warrior, buoyed by a predominant Filipino crowd, stepped back onto the arena and just put on an absolute masterclass by winning 10 of the last 13 games, including an unbelievable bagel in the third set.
For her, there’s always a rainbow after the rain.
Ms. Eala, like in Wimbledon, drew praises once more from a bevy of personalities around the world, including President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and the Senate that even interrupted its session as an impeachment court to congratulate the Filipina tennis sensation.
“Alex Eala does it again. The Philippines now has its first WTA 500 champion. Congratulations on yet another historic achievement. You continue to redefine what is possible for Philippine tennis and inspire countless young Filipinos to dream without limits,” said Mr. Marcos, who granted Ms. Eala a presidential recognition at the Malacañang in her homecoming last month.
“Kasama mo ang sambayang Pilipino sa pagdiriwang ng panibagong tagumpay na ito. Mabuhay ka, Alex.”
Ms. Eala — who didn’t give a single ace nor a breakpoint since the resumption — last year also trailed 0-1 to Ms. Pegula en route to 6-7, 6-5, 3-6 defeat to her in the Miami Open Final.
A wildcard and No. 140 player back then, Ms. Eala was a gatecrasher in Miami that time for her international tennis arrival. Against Ms. Pegula once more, Ms. Eala made sure to shatter the flood gates this time around to become the first-ever Filipino WTA Tour champion and the highest-ranked player from the Philippines in history.
“At the beginning of the week, there is no way I would have thought that I would be holding this trophy. These things kind of creep up on you, and I hold these moments really close to me,” beamed Ms. Eala, who previously won two challenger-level tournaments in Guadalajara and Birmingham, both 125s and not considered part of the WTA Tour level (250s, 500s, 1000s).
And Ms. Eala did, taking down 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 in one of the greatest WTA runs for a maiden singles title.
One by one, Ms. Eala toppled D.C.’s top three seeds and seasoned players in Mses. Svitolina, Osaka and Pegula and was one of the greatest campaigns ever as per the WTA. That’s on top of her seventh win against Top-10 players to tie Ms. Svitolina and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina for the most among all players this season.
“The was a very steep hill. Coming into the tournament, I knew that the competition was super strong and my draw was quite tough. Every match was just a different set of obstacles. So, I’m really, really proud. I think I encountered my fair share of obstacles this week,” she added.
Just last month, Ms. Eala was already on cloud nine after reaching a historic Round of 16 in Wimbledon on top of becoming the first Filipino seeded player in any Grand Slam main draw to cap her magnificent grass season.
In the first tournament alone of the hard-court swing leading up to the US Open on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, New York, she already treaded more uncharted territories.
And her legend has just begun. — John Bryan Ulanday