By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Photo credit: Jeff Dean/Wick Photography for Mubadala DC Open
Deficits don’t deter Alexandra Eala.
Playing from behind only propels the Filipina phenom into overdrive.
Facing a 1-5 second-set deficit, Eala charged through five games in a row dethroning defending champion Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 7-6(1) to reach the Mubadala DC Open quarterfinals in her Washington, DC debut.
Eala, who deposed defending Wimbledon winner Iga Swiatek at SW19 earlier this month, raised her 2026 record to 25-17 as she chases her first title before a wildly supportive corps of Filipino fans.
In a clash of lefty shotmakers, Eala played a near flawless tiebreaker to snap Fernandez’s six-match Washington, DC winning streak.
It’s a costly loss for the Canadian, who will drop out of the Top 75 when the new WTA rankings are released.
The 28th-ranked Eala reached the Berlin semifinals last month losing to eventual-champion and Wimbledon winner Linda Noskova. Eala will play either second-seeded Elina Svitolina or qualifier Polina Kudermetova for a semifinal spot.
The Eala express raced through nine of the last 10 games roaring past Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 yesterday.
Today, Eala came out striking crisp shots and jumped all over a sloppy defending champion.
Fernandez double-faulted deep to gift the opening service break and 2-0 lead to Eala, who immediately backed up the break for 3-0 after only nine minutes of play.
Throughout the set, Eala whipped wicked crosscourt forehands, while Fernandez struggled to tame her drives.
Frequently, Fernandez was over-hitting her forehand and sometimes slapping flat backhands into the net. When Fernandez netted a forehand, her 10th forehand error of the opening set, Eala snatched a one-set lead after 29 minutes.
The 2021 US Open finalist Fernandez is a fighter and she showed it storming back with a fierce forehand strike to break for a 2-1 second-set lead. Fernandez was fired up stretching her lead to 5-1 and looked poise to force a third set.
Eala was in no mood for extended engagements. When Fernandez served for the second set at 5-2 and again at 5-4, Eala broke and eventually took a 6-5 lead.
In the second-set tiebreaker, Fernandez tightened up a bit botching a routine volley long then flying a forehand long to fall behind 0-3.
Netting another backhand, Fernandez leaned on her Babolat stick as if it were a cane and yelled at herself falling behind 1-5.
The Eala forehand is tough to read and a versatile shot. Eala swept an excellent short-angled forehand winner crosscourt that froze Fernandez for a fistful of match points at 6-1.
Moving the champion side-to-side, Eala flashed a forehand winner down the line closing in one hour, 53 minutes.