Eala shocks Osaka in all-Asian duel
MANILA, Philippines — After conquering Mt. Fuji’s best – Japanese ace Naomi Osaka, Alex Eala is now one step away from another summit for Philippine tennis.
Win or lose, the 21-year-old Filipina is assured of a new career-high ranking and one of the biggest paydays of her young career.
Eala, who was to face familiar nemesis Jessica Pegula of the US in the final of the Mubadala Citi DC Open (early Monday morning in Manila), is guaranteed to rise to world No. 24 – her first time inside the Top 25.
With 256 ranking points for reaching her first-ever WTA 500 final, Eala will hike her total to 1,931 points from her current No. 28. A title over world No. 3 and top seed Pegula would lift her even higher to No. 20.
And she would do it the hard way – having toppled an Olympic champion, the reigning Washington champion, a WTA Finals champion and a four-time Grand Slam champion in succession.
A third pro title and her first at WTA Tour level is also on the line. Eala owns two WTA 125 crowns in Guadalajara and Birmingham, both considered challenger-level events.
A runner-up finish is already worth $155,000 (around P9.5 million), her third-biggest career purse after her $332,160 windfall (around P19 million) from her breakthrough Miami Open semifinal run and her £300,000 (around P24.6 million) from her Round-of-16 stint at Wimbledon.
A maiden WTA 500 title comes with $252,000 (around P15.4 million).
All of it comes on the heels of her magical run at Wimbledon.
But even with history beckoning, Eala remains grounded – content for now to be the giant slayer, not the giant.
“I still have so much motivation to become a better player and become a better person. I’m (only) 21, so it’s not like I’m the queen of the world or anything,” Eala said after dispatching world No. 13 Osaka, 6-4, 6-2, before a jampacked Stadium at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center Sunday.
Standing in the way of that next leap is Pegula, who ended Eala’s fairytale Miami run with a 7-6(7-3), 5-7, 6-3 win in the Final Four – the tournament that announced Eala to the world tennis scene as a wildcard then ranked No. 140.
“I’m more well-rounded now. I think I’m physically a little better,” Eala said of her growth since Miami, citing improvements in her serve, strokes and pace.