Alex Eala has chance to regroup as rains halt DC Open final vs. Jessica Pegula

Alex Eala's quest for a first career title was put on hold after rain interrupted the Mubadala DC Open final on Monday morning (Philippine time), leaving the Filipina with an opportunity to regroup as she trailed top seed Jessica Pegula.

READ MORE | Alex Eala stuns Jessica Pegula in DC Open finals for first career WTA title

Originally scheduled to begin on Monday, 12 a.m., the championship match was pushed back to around 3 a.m. due to scattered thunderstorms.

Eala and Pegula managed to complete the opening set and the first three games of the second set before rain once again forced play to stop at 3:57 a.m.

Tournament organizers eventually suspended the final, with play set to resume on Monday at 12 p.m. local time or Tuesday 12 a.m. Philippine time.

The 21-year-old Eala came out firing against Pegula, who incidentally claimed her first career WTA singles crown at the 2019 Mubadala DC Open. Eala seized a 4-3 lead in the opening set and was on the verge of extending her advantage after racing to a 40-15 lead in the eighth game.

But world No. 3 Jessica Pegula won four straight points to erase the deficit and level the set at 4-4. Pegula eventually won the next two games to draw first blood against Eala, who took down the likes of Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, and Naomi Osaka to reach the finals.

Eala opened the second set by holding serve before Pegula responded in the next game to level the score.

The Filipina then reclaimed the lead by taking the third game, moving ahead 2-1 before rain forced another suspension.

Eala will now look to complete the turnaround come the resumption later in the morning. A victory will give Eala the first and biggest victory of her young career.

Eala has previoulsy won two WTA 125 titles, the Guadalajara 125 Open in 2025 and this year's Birmingham Open, although these are categorized separately from the WTA Tour titles, which include the WTA 250, WTA 500, and WTA 1000 events, and the Grand Slams, which award 2,000 ranking points to the winners.

The DC Open is a WTA 500 event.

—JMB, GMA News