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Alex Eala is surely on cloud nine right now following her epic victory at the Washington Open, which confirmed her very first WTA Tour title.

The Filipina star defeated the top three seeds at the WTA 500 event to lift the trophy, gaining victories against Jessica Pegula in the final, as well as Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina.

Eala is now ranked world No 20 following her Washington triumph and there could be more to come as she is set to hit the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open before the US Open.

The 21-year-old might have made a mistake with her scheduling, however, and it could backfire on her at the Canadian Open.

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Eala has confirmed she will play doubles Venus Williams at the Toronto event, after previously passing on the chance at the Washington Open.

The pair previously played together on the grass at Bad Homburg, where they reached the quarter finals, but it’s hard not to think Eala has made a mistake by playing with the Grand Slam champion in Canada.

It can’t be a coincidence that Eala won the Washington Open after deciding not to play with Williams at the United States capital.

It freed her up to focus solely on the singles and she more than proved that she is one of the most in-form players on the WTA Tour right now.

Furthermore, Eala is already on a race against time at the Canadian Open, due to the unfortunate scheduling of the Washington Open final.

The final between Pegula and Eala was forced to play over two days due to a thunderstorm, which had derailed both ladies’ preparations for the Masters event.

Eala only arrived 24 hours before she was scheduled to play her singles match against Alycia Parks and her new doubles partnership ensures she will now not get a day off to try and acclimatise to the tournament.

Williams and Eala’s match, against Miyu Kato and Liudmila Samsonova, is scheduled for Thursday’s order of play, which means Eala could be playing every day if at the event if she survives in both formats.

That’s not ideal for a star who has just played 5 matches in the last week. Even if Eala does find a way to get through the tournament in both disciplines, it will surely hamper her chances across the rest of the North American hardcourt swing.

Eala is only defending 70 ranking points in singles until the end of the US Open and she has a real opportunity to continue soaring up the rankings.

Her doubles partnership with Williams will surely only hamper that, rather than help.

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Alex Eala’s brilliant run to the Washington Open title has put her firmly in the category of ‘dark horse’ ahead of the US Open.

Eala defeated Jessica Pegula in three sets to claim the Washington title, which came after the star also picked up wins against Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka.

The Filipina star will play the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open ahead of the US Open, but many of her adoring fans are excited about how she might fare at the Flushing Meadows event this year.

At last year’s tournament, Eala claimed the first Grand Slam main draw victory of her career in New York by defeating Clara Tauson. She was then defeated by Cristina Bucsa in the second round.

So how have previous Washington Open winners fared at the US Open just a month later?

The last five Washington Open winner before Alex Eala’s victory

• 2025: Leylah Fernandez
• 2024: Paula Badosa
• 2023: Coco Gauff
• 2022: Liudmila Samsonova
• 2021: Jessica Pegula

It’s been a mixed bag for the Washington Open champions at the US Open, although no player in the last five years has suffered an exit in the first two rounds.

Last year’s Washington champion, Leylah Fernandez, only managed a third round appearance at the US Open a month later.

Fernandez defeated compatriot Rebecca Marino and Elsa Jacquemot before losing to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the Grand Slam.

In 2023, Paula Badosa was crowned the champion of the Washington Open. She would go on to have a very impressive run at the US Open, reaching the last eight of the Grand Slam.

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Badosa beat the likes of Taylor Townsend and Elena-Gabriela Ruse en route to the quarter finals, before she was defeated by Emma Navarro in straight sets.

Eala will be hoping to emulate Coco Gauff, who is the only player in the last five years to win the Washington Open and the US Open back-to-back.

Gauff beat Maria Sakkari in the Washington Open final to claim the title and she followed it up by having a brilliant campaign at Flushing Meadows.

The American beat Jelena Ostapenko, Karolina Muchova, and Sabalenka consecutively to claim the US Open on home soil for the first and only time in her career.

In 2022, Liudmila Samsonova was the winner of the Washington Open and she followed it up with her best-ever run at the US Open.

The Russian star defeated Sara Bejlek, Fernandez, and Aleksandra Krunić, before succumbing to Ajla Tomljanović in straight sets in the fourth round.

Pegula was crowned the Washington Open champion in 2021, which was the first WTA singles title of her career. She reached the third round of the US Open a month later, defeating Anastasia Potapova and Misaki Doi, before losing to Belinda Bencic.

If Eala emulates the last five winners of the Washington Open, she will earn her best-ever performance at the US Open.

The post How the last five Washington Open champions performed at the US Open as Alex Eala eyes more history appeared first on Tennis365.

Former world No 4 Greg Rusedski has proclaimed that Alex Eala has “put a message out to everybody” ahead of the 2026 US Open by winning the Washington Open title.

Eala defeated world No 3 Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the final at the WTA 500 tournament in Washington DC to secure her maiden tour-level title.

The Filipina star’s victory has lifted her to a new career-high ranking of world No 20 after she started last week at her previous best position of 28th.

The 21-year-old, who also beat world No 10 Elina Svitolina in the Washington quarter-finals, now holds an outstanding 9-4 record against opponents ranked in the top 10.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, Rusedski hailed Eala following her title breakthrough.

“She’s just a ray of light for the WTA tour,” said Rusedski, a 1997 US Open finalist and former British No 1.

“She’s the best thing that’s happened to it in a long while. We needed a big superstar and she’s filling those boots.

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“So, right now she’s put a message out to everybody, ‘okay, I might be ready for that first major title at the US Open.’

“But then big guns will be in there like [Aryna] Sabalenka, [Elena] Rybakina. They’re the ones who are going to try to attack the second serve. And we saw Pegula trying to do that.

“I love her mentality, her fighting attitude, the way she holds her ground on those returns and groundstrokes is so impressive, and the doggedness and the determination she has is second to none.

“She looks like a real superstar who just keeps on getting better week in, week out. And also she’s in the top 20 in the world now. That’s a big step forward as well.

“So, everything looks good and this is huge for the WTA. This is exactly what they need. Can you imagine the reception she’s gonna get in Toronto? It’s already sold out for her. They’re gonna be going crazy.

“I’m just so impressed with her. And I just think she has it upstairs (in the mind), which is a huge ingredient in her sport.”

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Taylor Fritz and Rafael Jodar produced a brilliant Washington Open final, which eventually went the way of the American in straight sets.

The pair were forced to wait until Monday to play their final after a storm hit Washington on the Sunday, but they didn’t disappoint in the United States capital.

Fritz eventually won the tight contest 7-6, 6-4 to claim his first ATP title of the year, and 11th in total.

However, there was some controversy during the match as Jodar decided to take a medical timeout with the match at 7-6, 5-4, with Fritz just about to serve for the set and the match.

Fritz was noticeably annoyed by the Spaniard’s decision and the American’s coach, Michael Russell, could be seen mouthing ‘absolute bulls***’ during the moment.

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While Jodar did look to suffer a legitimate injury in the match, where he fell on his wrist, and it could potentially keep him out of action going forward, players should categorically not be allowed to take an MTO while a player is serving for the match.

It’s a dangerous move, which could be used by players as gamemanship, and it should absolutely be stamped out by the ATP Tour moving forward.

Jodar had already taken a break during the match to sort out his shoelaces, which conveniently landed when Fritz has just broken him in the second set.

While we will not know if Jodar was trying to put Fritz off, or give him more time to think about closing the match, it’s a loophole that should be closed.

The tactic almost worked for Jodar too, as he took Fritz to deuce in the deciding game. The Spaniard saved several match points before Fritz was able to close the match out.

Fritz’s Washington Open victory was the 11th title of the American’s career and it stopped a four match losing streak in ATP Tour finals.

He had previously lost finals in Tokyo, Dallas, Stuttgart, and Halle in a row before claiming the title in Washington.

It was also Fritz’s first ATP 500 tournament title since 2022, when he lifted the Japan Open. In that time Fritz had claimed six ATP 250 events, but his run at 500 events was quite barren.

Despite his victory at the Washington Open, Fritz still only sits at world No 8 in the ATP Tour rankings. However, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic sit just above the American and they could be toppled with a good performance at the Canadian Open.

As for Rafael Jodar, the Spaniard sits at world No 15, which is a career ranking high.

The post Rafael Jodar’s actions against Taylor Fritz show the ATP Tour must make a rule change appeared first on Tennis365.

Alex Eala’s brilliant form over the summer months has been rewarded with her very first WTA title at the Washington Open.

The Filipina star has been quite brilliant since the grass court season, where she won the Birmingham Open, reached the semi finals of the Berlin Open, and defeated Iga Swiatek en route to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

She continued that blistering form at the Washington Open, where she beat the likes of Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka, and Elina Svitolina to win the title.

Eala has made a name for herself by become somewhat of a giant killer on the WTA Tour, and Andy Roddick thinks he knows why.

Roddick believes Eala’s unorthodox style of play has become a real struggle for some of the best players on the WTA Tour.

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Speaking on Served, the American said: “She makes them uncomfortable. They have to be annoyed because they never get the same shot at the same speed and the same spot. She is very good at switching directions.

“All they want to do is step up, especially against someone who they feel they might have more power than and doesn’t serve big, but she is so good at redirecting off of pace. She has a real talent for that.”

Eala has picked up victories against the likes of Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, Svitolina, Pegula, Osaka, and Leylah Fernandez over the last few months, and Roddick is expecting her to kick on even further.

Alex Eala’s victories over top 10 players

• Madison Keys – 2025 Miami Open
• Iga Swiatek – 2025 Miami Open
• Jasmine Paolini – 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships
• Coco Gauff – 2026 Indian Wells
• Elena Rybakina – 2026 Berlin Open
• Elina Svitolina – 2026 Berlin Open
• Iga Swiatek – 2026 Wimbledon
• Elina Svitolina – 2026 Washington Open
• Jessica Pegula – 2026 Washington Open

“It’s her first title,” he added. “I think a lot of the conversation rightly or wrongly after Miami last year was whether it was a fun story or is this going to be a fun story for a lot longer. It’s the latter.

“A lot of times when someone goes and wins something from a low ranking or has a big result, you go 12 months later once that result falls off, what’s the ranking going to be. That’s the true litmus test. It’s not this overinflated one massive result thing.”

Roddick believes Eala has all the tools to be one of the best players on the WTA Tour and she has proved that with her recent form, particularly at the Washington Open.

“Eala is the real deal. She is not scared to play the big players,” said Roddick. “And right back off of a good Wimbledon result, straight back into it. I thought she was fantastic.

“I don’t even think it’s a one time thing where you are surprised. She is now entering the phase where you are not judging a singular performance where you are saying that’s exciting because that’s the ceiling.

“She is now in the consistency game where you are expecting her to be pretty good all the time. It’s now, can you do it every week? That’s when you start talking about a top 10 player. Fourth round Wimbledon, win Washington, quarter finals in Canada, round of 16 here, quarter-finals here, semi-finals.

“Then you are in the conversation as a consistent contender and it’s not they are dangerous on a hard court and the next three months is a write off, she is entering this conversation where she is pretty good all the time.

“Her winning a title is not surprising to anyone, it’s now almost surprising she hasn’t won one because her quality has been so good so often. She is just not scared to go against the top players.

“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.”

Eala next heads to the Canadian Open, where she is looking for her first-ever main draw victory. She will play Alycia Parks in the second round of the Masters event, after receiving a first round bye thanks to her ranking.

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Greg Rusedski has outlined the first thing a player should do when preparing to face Alex Eala.

This year just keeps on getting better for the 21-year-old after she lifted the Washington Open trophy following a three-set comeback win over Jessica Pegula.

The American took the first set 6-4 before rain and lightning halted play when Eala was 2-1 up in the second on Sunday. Play resumed on Monday, and Pegula ended up winning just three more games in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory for the Filipina.

The unseeded youngster became the first player from her country to win a WTA Tour title, a result that saw her crack the top 20 in the rankings for the first time.

After her triumph, she said, “I feel so much love. I knew whatever happened, this match would have already been a win for me. My first chance at a title, knowing it won’t be the last, and already [I’ve] achieved this milestone for my career.”

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Despite all the excitement around Eala, she still has her detractors. Although she is now in the top 20, her serving stats are well outside the top 50. Indeed, Serena Williams’ coach, Rennae Stubbs, thinks she won’t win a Grand Slam with that in her arsenal.

However, Rusedski thinks that relative weakness can be sharpened up, with the former British No 1 backing Eala to make some serving improvements ahead of the 2027 season.

While Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s coach has called her the “most exciting” player on the women’s tour, with a great mentality and return game, the former US Open finalist would encourage her opponents to always make the Filipina serve first in a match to potentially knock her confidence.

He said on the latest episode of Off Court with Greg Rusedski, “I think that’s [Eala’s serve] something that she can work on in the off-season, continue to build up, and work with her coach. She’s got a great bunch of people around her, and players will talk in the locker room.

“The question mark for me is when she plays the [Aryna] Sabalenkas or the [Elena] Rybakinas, they’re going to step in, and they’re going to crunch that second serve, especially on a hard court where you get a true bounce.

“But what I’m impressed with is how she holds her position on the baseline; her returns are exceptional. The way she takes the ball so early, she likes to win the battle of the real estate, but the problem she has with the second service was when you get Rybakina and Sabalenka, they’re not going to hold back, especially on a hard court with the true bounce.

“They’re just going to go rifling, but it’s the battle because you know, Eala is going to break you a lot of times. So that puts undue pressure on your service game. And do you have the mentality to keep on going after?

“So if I was playing and coaching [against] Eala, I’d always get her to serve first. I’d say ‘I’m returning first, let’s put the pressure on her right away and go after it’. That said, her mentality is second to none.”

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Alex Eala won the biggest title of her career after securing a comeback three-set win over Jessica Pegula in the Washington Open final in a match that was played over two days.

The 21-year-old dropped a tight, back-and-forth first set 6-4 on Sunday before the contest was called off for the day due to rain and lightning in the American capital, with Pegula trailing 1-2 in the second.

But when the encounter resumed on Monday afternoon, it was a very different story as Eala‘s pressure told as the former US Open finalist dropped the second 6-4.

All the momentum was with the unseeded player in the decider, with the left-hander grabbing an early break, and she never looked back as she won 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Eala, who beat second seed Elina Svitolina and third seed Naomi Osaka along the way, secured her first WTA 500 title, which will give her a huge amount of confidence heading into the Canadian Open in the coming days. But for Pegula, this was a damaging defeat after being the better player on Sunday.

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Washington rankings points breakdown

Prior to this tournament, Pegula was comfortably in third place in the WTA Tour rankings, with Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka well clear of the chasing pack in second and first, respectively.

Eala, on the other hand, was at a career-high of 28 but after she won four matches on her way to the final, she rose to 24th.

Victory saw her crash the the top 20 for the first time, overtaking French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska in the process.

Eala is now up to 20th after earning a hard-fought 500 points, while Pegula still picks up a respectable 325 of her own. The full rankings breakdown for the tournament is below.

First round: 1
Second round: 60
Quarter-final: 108
Semi-final: 195
Runner-up: 325
Champion: 500

Incidentally, Pegula remains on 6,625, which is 976 ahead of Coco Gauff in fourth but still 1,431 adrift of Rybakina, who is a further 494 points back from world No 1 Sabalenka.

Eala jumps up to 2,106 points, and will be targeting the top 10 in the not so distant future.

Washington prize money breakdown

This is the 14th edition of this tournament for women but the 57th for the men.

The total prize money for the 32-man draw is $2,469,450 (£1,838,999) but for the 28-strong women’s field, it is down at $1,637,982 (£1,219,805).

Last year’s women’s champion, Leylah Fernandez, earned $197,570 (£147,130) after beating Anna Kalinskaya but this time out, Eala pocketed $54,430 (£40,539) more than that.

Pegula, on the other hand, collected $155,000 as she falls to 11-13 in WTA Tour finals. Below is the full prize money breakdown for the Washington Open.

First round: $17,440 (£12,984)
Second round: $24,474 (£18,220)
Quarter-final: $47,750 (£35,555)
Semi-final: $90,900 (£67,693)
Runner-up: $155,000 (£115,428)
Champion: $252,000 (£187,664)

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Greg Rusedski is feeling much more optimistic about Carlos Alcaraz’s injury recovery after seeing the Spaniard’s latest training video.

Just under a month ago, the former British No 1 said he was “deeply concerned” by footage the 23-year-old posted of him back on the court as he makes his way back from a wrist injury.

The seven-time major winner did not look like he was ready to be back on the ATP Tour but ahead of his scheduled return at the Cincinnati Masters (13-23 August), Rusedski has since struck a more buoyant tone.

On the latest episode of Off Court with Greg Rusedski, the former US Open finalist said, “He seems to be hitting the ball well, but it looked like he wasn’t hitting with the highest level players.

“It was more juniors and younger players. Time will tell, but much better signs. Fingers crossed he makes it in Cincinnati.”

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Rusedski, who currently coaches Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, was also pleased with how well Alcaraz was moving around the court, going by the short clip he posted.

While the wrist needs to rest and recover during this type of injury, a player can still keep in good physical shape – something Rusedski was quick to point out.

 

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A post shared by Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (@carlitosalcarazz)

He added, “The movement looks pretty good because when you have a wrist injury, the good news is you can do a lot of footwork, you can do a lot of movement. You can use that time to get better physically, but you still need to get the reps on court.

“So a lot more optimistic about him coming back, but still, we got to see what happens. We’ve seen what’s happened with Jack Draper. You know, a lot of starts. So fingers crossed, Carlos is back. We need him in the game.”

Alcaraz hasn’t played on the ATP Tour since injuring his wrist back in mid-April at the Barcelona Open.

It remains to be seen how successful the former world No 1 will be on his return to the sport, especially as he attempts to defend his US Open title in a few weeks. And Rusedski thinks just having him back is what the sport desperately needs.

“Carlos is the biggest star in men’s tennis at the moment, the most explosive player. And for me, he’s the guy who transcends our sport, not only tennis, but globally,” he said.

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Aryna Sabalenka has not been in action since she was dumped out of the Wimbledon round of 16 by Naomi Osaka, but she will return in Toronto for the Canadian Open.

The world No 1 has not had a vintage year so far in 2026, due to her inability to claim a Grand Slam title.

She has, however, still won three WTA Tour singles titles, including the Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

She is set to return at Masters level at the Canadian Open, a tournament she is yet to win in her career.

Ahead of her return to action at the North American hardcourt event, Sabalenka has lobbied for a change to the way players have to conduct their media.

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Taking to social media just days before her first round match at the Canadian Open against Moyuka Uchijima, Sabalenka said: “How about pre-tournament media to be changed? Top 10 players together for press conference? F1 style? Fun no?”

This is a ploy that has been experimented over the years, most famously at the ATP Finals, with the top eight players in the world all sit down at the desk to take questions.

However, Sabalenka’s latest idea has already been dismissed by reputable tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

Responding to Sabalenka’s initial post, Rothenberg said: “[I] would be game to try it somewhere but in my experience with that style some of the people up there will spend long stretches of time up on the podium without getting asked anything, and it becomes a big waste of their time.”

In a later post, Gill Gross also stated it could have a damaging impact on the content of press conferences.

“[It] would be fun as a changeup, but my hunch is the players would say absolutely nothing vulnerable or insightful in each others presence.

“There’s already culture of guardedness in the locker room and this would expose it even further. Plus, individuals would field less questions total.”

Sabalenka’s latest plea does not appear to have been taken up by any other players either, so the world No 1 could have her work cut out for her trying to push this over the line.

In the meantime, Sabalenka will be looking to turn around her form at the Canadian Open.

In her six appearances at the Masters event, the star has only reached the semi finals on one occasion. She has also reached the quarter finals, but outside of that she’s suffered a variety of early exits in Canada.

She has a 9-6 record at the Canadian Open, which equates to a 60% win rate, which makes it her second-worst performing Masters event behind only the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The post Aryna Sabalenka calls for major tennis change ahead of Canadian Open return appeared first on Tennis365.

Jessica Pegula has revealed what makes Alex Eala’s serve “tricky” to deal with as she also addressed the “crazy” support the Filipina star receives.

Pegula and Eala are competing in the championship match at the Mubadala DC Open, a WTA 500 tournament in Washington DC.

World No 3 Pegula was leading 6-4, 1-2 in the final against 28th-ranked Eala on Sunday when play was suspended due to rain in the United States capital. The match is set to resume on Monday.

In the pair’s only previous meeting, Pegula defeated Eala 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 in the semi-finals at the 2025 Miami Open.

After her semi-final win against Diana Shnaider in Washington, Pegula was asked about Eala’s serve.

“I mean, I think her serve has gotten a little bit better since when I last played her. I know it’s something she’s working on, of course,” the 32-year-old American said in her press conference.

“One, I think it helps that she’s a lefty. I think lefties are definitely — no offense to lefties, but they can get away with a little bit more, because we’re just not used to seeing the ball come that direction as often, and I think you see that with a lot of different lefties on tour.

“I mean, [Adrian] Mannarino, I feel like he just kind of like throws it in there. He can still hit his serve, but throws it in there. I’m not sure if a person that’s right-handed would be able to get away with it that much. So I do think they can use that to their advantage.

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“I think with her, it stays so low. It’s hard to attack. I think if you put her — it would be interesting if she plays mixed doubles. I don’t think guys are going to like returning her serve. There’s no space to actually do anything with it. Sometimes you feel like you’re just starting the point.

“I remember in Miami, I just didn’t know, should I go for it more, because then I feel like I’m possibly giving her free points off of that serve, or do I kind of just start the point? You really have to use your legs and kind of get up and trust it.

“Yeah, that’s why it can be so tricky. It stays very low, especially on more of a hard court, which I think she’s probably better on a hard court or grass court where it’s very hard to attack.

“I mean, the ball is kind of below the net, and you’re having to hit up on the ball. Any time you have to do that, it can be really tricky.”

Pegula later discussed Eala’s remarkable following from her fans from the Philippines.

“It’s crazy. There’s people out there all waiting for her. I mean, I think it’s awesome for the sport. I think it’s really cool. I think we’ve seen that similar to [Joao] Fonseca,” said Pegula.

“I think it’s amazing she’s able to draw these crowds, and it’s not even like she’s the No. 1 seed yet or like a top-5 player, and she’s able to bring all these people in to watch her matches.

“I’ve seen it at all the tournaments we’ve been at this year. She’s usually on a bigger court, because they have to put her on a bigger court. Usually you hear the crowd from every single court that you’re on around her.

“I remember in Dubai I could hear it from my hotel room, because it’s very close to the courts there. So I think it’s awesome. Any way to get people into tennis.

“I remember when we had her on our podcast, we had so many Filipino fans and the one girl, Des Krawczyk, is also half-Filipino, and they were, like, Oh, my God, Des is Filipino. Then she got all of these followers because they were Filipino fans.

“I think it’s really cool when you can outreach a group of people, especially that might not be super into tennis. I think it’s really neat.

“It will be tough. I remember in Miami. This was, like, before she was really, like, people knew her as much. I’m assuming tomorrow it’s probably going to be worse. I don’t know if there’s more Filipino here compared to Miami, but Miami I was just, like, who are these people? What is going on?

“I’m an American. I’m in Miami Open. We’re in the semis. I live in South Florida. I was just, like, where are these people coming from? Like, I don’t understand. I was just so confused.

“Now obviously looking back, it’s gotten even crazier, and it makes complete sense now. But I just remember being in that match and just being, like, where did all of these fans come from? I don’t understand what’s happening. Now it’s, like, every week it seems to be like that.

“It is what it is. I’ll do my best. Hopefully I can still get some American fans behind me.”

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