{"id":2076721,"date":"2026-08-04T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2076721"},"modified":"2026-08-04T11:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:00:39","slug":"everything-alex-eala-said-in-her-press-conference-after-washington-dc-open-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2076721","title":{"rendered":"Everything Alex Eala said in her press conference after Washington DC Open triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Everything Alex Eala said in her press conference after Washington DC Open triumph<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"04 Aug 2026 12:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"04 Aug 2026 12:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1785841239\"><br \/>\n                            04 Aug 2026 12:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Everything Alex Eala said in her press conference after Washington DC Open triumph\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A-delighted-Alex-Eala-after-her-match-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: A delighted Alex Eala after her match\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                A delighted Alex Eala after her match                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Alex Eala has reflected on beating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jessica-pegula\">Jessica Pegula<\/a> in the final at the 2026 Washington DC Open to secure her maiden WTA Tour title.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old Filipina overcame world No 3 Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in a final played over two days due to rain in Washington.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> also defeated Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen during an impressive run at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\">WTA<\/a> 500 tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Here is everything Eala said in her press conference after her triumph in the United States capital.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.<\/strong> Congrats on your first title. Just your thoughts on your win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala:<\/strong> Oh my gosh\u2026 I\u2019m super happy, taking it all in right now. And yeah, just pure happiness<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.<\/strong> 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 I guess how well you were playing today also.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>No, it\u2019s been a crazy 24 hours, of course. I think I\u2019ve warmed up like a thousand times. A lot of un unpredictable swings with the weather, and I want to thank the tournament for just being so accommodating helping us through it and arranging this Monday final was was really great. Yeah, it was difficult I think to kind of like, I don\u2019t\u2026 well, at the same time, it\u2019s happened to me a lot, 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, but I think I was able to take my time and 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.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/who-alex-ealas-coach-washington-open-champions-confidant-masterminding-rise\"><strong>Who is Alex Eala\u2019s coach? The Washington Open champion\u2019s \u2018confidant\u2019 masterminding her rise<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/rafael-nadal-sends-message-to-alex-eala-after-washington-open-victory\"><strong>Rafael Nadal sends message to Alex Eala after Washington Open victory<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>It seemed like the crowd was even more vocal and maybe even more Filipino today than yesterday. Did you notice that as well?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>No, I didn\u2019t. But I was so pleasantly surprised with the turnout today and super grateful for all the fans who waited the whole day yesterday. They really stuck it out, and the people back home, I know like couldn\u2019t get a lot of sleep. So super grateful and I hope you guys enjoyed the end of the final. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>You\u2019ve talked all week about how you\u2019ve been able to kind of stay locked in with everything that\u2019s going on around you, but 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?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>I was so nervous and and I kind of just blacked out. Everything just came rushing to me and I was really nervous before the last couple of points. And I was really trying to channel those nerves into hitting good balls and moving my feet. So yeah, a lot, a huge burst of emotions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>How much can you take away from this tournament knowing the quality of opponents you\u2019ve beaten, not just here, but recently?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>So many takeaways from this tournament, and 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\u2019s just really nice to see all the things that I\u2019ve been working on off court or during training being implemented in matches.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>I think you\u2019ve probably made history a lot in your career already, just along the way. But how do you kind of square like celebrating that for you personally while it also means so much to so many people?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>Well, yeah, and I\u2019ve said this a lot, but first and foremost, it\u2019s an achievement for myself. It\u2019s a personal achievement. I\u2019ve worked really hard, and oh my gosh, winning a 500 is is insane. It\u2019s an incredible milestone for me and at the beginning of the week, there\u2019s no way I would have thought that I would be holding this trophy, and even at the beginning of the year. Like it\u2019s just, these things kind of creep up on you, and yeah, I hold these moments really close to me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>You beat an Olympic gold medallist, defending champion, the number two, three, and one seeds in that order. How much pride do you have in what you were able to do this week and the challenges you overcame because it was a pretty steep hill to climb this week?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala: <\/strong>It was was a very steep hill and 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. So I\u2019m really really proud. I think I encountered my fair share of obstacles this week. So super happy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. <\/strong>How do you think this can propel you going forward having this title under your belt?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eala:<\/strong> Well, I think to have this many matches at this very high level, like you said, having these high calibre players, it helps me obviously just gain experience and more core time at that level. And I think inevitably propelling 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 it\u2019s it\u2019s all these matches and all these hours are just experience in the bag.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/wta-rankings-aryna-sabalenka-under-pressure-no-1-alex-eala-cracks-top-20-kristina-liutova-103\">WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka under pressure at No 1, Alex Eala cracks top 20, Kristina Liutova +103<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everything Alex Eala said in her press conference after Washington DC Open triumph Ewan West 04 Aug 2026 12:00 PM A delighted Alex Eala after her match Alex Eala has reflected on beating Jessica Pegula in the final at the 2026 Washington DC Open to secure her maiden WTA Tour title. The 21-year-old Filipina overcame [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2076721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2076721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2076721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2076721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2076721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}