MUBADALA DC OPEN

August 3, 2026

Alexandra Eala

Press Conference

A. EALA/J. Pegula

4-6, 6-4, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Alex, congrats on your first WTA title. Just your thoughts on your win.

ALEXANDRA EALA: Oh, my gosh, I'm over the moon, super happy, taking it all in right now. Yeah, just pure happiness.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations. Can you talk through the last 24 hours, what it was like in the first part of the match, all the waiting you had to do, and then what felt different in the resumption? Jess said it was like two different matches basically with the conditions and how well you were playing today, also.

ALEXANDRA EALA: No, it's been a crazy 24 hours, of course. I think I warmed up, like, a thousand times, a lot of unpredictable swings with the weather.

I want to thank the tournament for just, you know, being so accommodating, helping us through it. Arranging this Monday final was really great.

Yeah, it was difficult, I think, to kind of like -- well, at the same time, it's happened to me a lot, you know, rain delays a lot of times in my life. I think this is just kind of another one of those, although it was a lot higher stakes (smiling).

But I think I was able, you know, to take my time and, you know, kind of take those learnings from the first half of the match and do my best to apply them in the second, and I think it worked pretty well.

Q. It seemed like the crowd was even more vocal and maybe even more Filipino today than yesterday. Did you notice that, as well?

ALEXANDRA EALA: No, I didn't, but I was so pleasantly surprised with the turnout today and super grateful for the fans who waited the whole day yesterday. They really stuck it out.

The people back home I know couldn't get a lot of sleep. So super grateful, and I hope you guys enjoyed the end of the final.

Q. You have talked all week about how you have been able to stay locked in with everything going on around you. That immediate moment when you collapsed to the ground after match point, how would you describe your emotions in that moment and the things you were thinking in that immediate moment?

ALEXANDRA EALA: Oh, I was so nervous. I kind of just blacked out. Everything just came rushing to me, and I was really nervous before the last couple of points. I was really trying to channel those nerves into hitting good balls and moving my feet. Yeah, a huge burst of emotions.

Q. Congratulations. I guess it's kind of a cool thing where Jess's first title was here in Washington in 2019, and for you it's obviously your first. The draw you had here was kind of insane. You beat the top three seeds, and the quality of opponents. Reflecting back on that, how much can you take away from this tournament, knowing the quality of opponents you've beaten, not just here but recently as of late?

ALEXANDRA EALA: So many takeaways from this tournament. I think I ended the tournament in better shape than I started. I think each match I kept improving and kept learning things about myself.

So definitely gives me a lot of confidence, and it's just really nice to see all the things that I have been working on off court or during training being implemented in matches.

Q. Such a big personal milestone. You're also making history. I think you have probably made history a lot in your career a lot already, but how do you square that for you personally while it also means so much to so many people?

ALEXANDRA EALA: Well, yeah, and I have said this a lot, but first and foremost, it's an achievement for myself. It's a personal achievement. I have worked really hard.

Oh, my gosh, winning a 500, it's insane. It's an incredible milestone for me. You know, at the beginning of the week, there is no way I would have thought that I would be holding this trophy. You know, even at the beginning of the year, like it's just, you know, these things kind of creep up on you, and yeah, I hold these moments really close to me, yeah.

Q. You won a 500 but also won one of the tougher 500s in terms of draws and also who you beat. You beat an Olympic gold medalist, defending champion, the No. 2, 3, and 1 seeds in that order. How much pride do you have in what you were able to do this week and the challenges you overcame? It was a pretty steep hill to climb.

ALEXANDRA EALA: Yeah, it 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, you know.

So I'm really, really proud. I think I encountered my fair share of obstacles this week. So super happy, yeah.

Q. How do you think this can propel you going forward, having this title under your belt?

ALEXANDRA EALA: Well, I think to have this many matches at this very high level, like you said, having these high-caliber players, it helps me obviously just gain experience and more court time at that level, and I think inevitably propelling my, you know, my progression and the level of my game.

Because if you spend time at that kind of zone, the more time you spend, I believe the better you get and the more consistent you get. So all these matches and all these hours are just experience in the bag, yeah.