WASHINGTON — Alexandra Eala of the Philippines rallied to beat China’s Zheng Qinwen 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday to open her campaign at the Mubadala DC Open.
Eala won seven straight games to claim the second set and cruised through the decider against Zheng, a former world No. 4 and 2024 Olympic gold medalist.
The victory avenged Eala’s semifinal loss to Zheng at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where she fell 6-1, 6(5)-7, 3-6. The 21-year-old, who won the singles gold medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, has leaned on her competitiveness throughout the season.
“I think it’s definitely a mindset that you have,” Eala said in comments released by the WTA. “That being said, I think it’s been trained, or I’ve practiced. I’ve had more experience now to implement that mindset at the higher level.”
“That just comes also with the level of my tennis getting higher, because you always want to win, and you always want to fight,” she added. “But I think now, with the progress I’ve had this past year, I have a bit more ammunition to back it up.”
Eala, ranked 28th in the world, next faces seventh-seeded Leylah Fernandez, who beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4. Fernandez, a Filipino-Canadian, won last year’s title with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Anna Kalinskaya in the final.
In other matches, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto outlasted Denmark’s Clara Tauson 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) to set up a second-round meeting with eighth-seeded Emma Navarro of the United States.
Navarro received a first-round bye, as did top-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 2 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, No. 3 Naomi Osaka of Japan, No. 4 Diana Shnaider and No. 5 Kalinskaya.
Sixth-seeded Madison Keys of the United States lost to Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 4-6, 4-6.
