Alexandra Eala of the Philippines looks on during a women's singles match against Leylah Fernandez of Canada during day three of the Mubadala Citi DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Emilee Chinn, Getty Images/AFP
Alex Eala is set for a rematch with Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina — this time, a Final Four berth at the Mubadala DC Open is at stake.
Eala defeated the World No. 10 Svitolina on grass, 6-4, 6-3, at the Berlin Open quarterfinal last month — one of the Pinay tennis ace’s top 10 wins in her breakthrough grass season.
Eala and Svitolina will tackle each other once more on hardcourt, a different surface since they last played five weeks ago in Germany.
READ: Coach Bosch says Eala finding her rhythm at the perfect time
And as expected, the higher-ranked opponent of Eala is hoping to exact revenge against the hungry Filipina.
“Tomorrow is a new surface, new country, a new city, so it's a new challenge, and hopefully I'm going to draw some confidence from today's match and carry it into tomorrow,” said Svitolina after winning over Uzbekistan's Polina Kudermetova, shifting her focus to Eala.
READ: Alex Eala shows grit, resiliency in face of tough challenge by defending champ Fernandez
The second seed advanced to the quarterfinals after eliminating Kudermetova, 7-6(4), 6-4, in the Round of 16.
READ: Tennis: Alex Eala dethrones Fernandez, advances to DC Open q'finals
Eala, for her part, dethroned defending champion Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6(1), yesterday to be in the Last 8.
And for coach Joan Bosch, he is pleased with how the 21-year-old tennis is faring in her North American hard-court swing.
“I’m super happy she’s [Alex Eala] doing well,” Bosch said. “It’s just the start of the US hard-court season. It’s a good start for sure.”
“Alex became better and better,” he said. “She didn’t play too many points before coming here, so the first set against Qinwen was very important to win.”
The Eala-Svitolina rematch is scheduled for Saturday, 6:30 a.m. (Philippine time). — with a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News
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