Alex Eala added another marquee name to her growing list of elite opponents, overcoming reigning Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in a dramatic three-set battle to book her place in the second round of the Mubadala DC Open.
The victory further strengthened Eala’s reputation as one of the WTA Tour’s emerging giant killers. With the win over Zheng, the Filipina has now defeated all three medalists from the women’s singles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Before taking down the Chinese star, Eala had already earned victories over silver medalist Donna Vekic and bronze medalist Iga Swiatek.
Her latest breakthrough did not come easily. Returning to competition after a two-week break following Wimbledon, Eala found herself trailing after dropping the opening set.
The match appeared to be slipping away again when Zheng broke serve to move ahead 4-3 in the second set.
Instead, the momentum shifted completely. Eala responded with one of her strongest stretches of tennis, reeling off seven consecutive games after the seventh game of the second set.
The run allowed her to force a deciding set before racing to a commanding 4-0 advantage in the third, capitalizing on a string of unforced errors from the Olympic champion.
Zheng managed to halt the surge by breaking Eala’s serve in Game 5 of the decider, but the comeback was never enough to threaten the Filipina’s control. Eala closed out the match emphatically, sealing the third set, 6-1, to complete a stunning comeback victory.
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The result also carried added significance beyond the rankings. Eala avenged one of the toughest defeats of her career after falling to Zheng in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Games.
This time, the Filipina reversed the outcome with a composed finish that highlighted her continued development against the world’s top players.
The win gives Eala an encouraging start to a crucial North American hard-court campaign, a stretch that serves as her build-up to the 2026 US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.
Awaiting her in the second round is defending DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez in another high-profile test. It will be their second meeting on the WTA Tour after Fernandez claimed a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the Stuttgart Open earlier this year.
With another Olympic medalist added to her resume and confidence continuing to build, Eala enters the next stage of the tournament carrying momentum that could make her one of the players to watch throughout the hard-court swing.
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