EXPLAINER: Who is Jessica Pegula, opponent of Alex Eala in the Mubadala DC Open final?

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala is currently in the final round of the Mubadala DC Open opposite the tournament’s top seed, Jessica Pegula of the United States.

The highly anticipated final got underway early Monday morning (Philippine time) after a three-hour thunderstorm delay. Pegula took the opening set 6-4 after trailing early on. Eala fought back quickly in the second set, holding her ground to establish a 2-1 lead. However, heavy rain and lightning returned to the area, forcing the players off the court. After a prolonged delay of more than five hours, tournament organizers officially suspended the match for the rest of the day.

The championship showdown is scheduled to resume on Monday at 12 p.m. local time or Tuesday, August 4, at 12:00 midnight Philippine time.

Who is Jessica Pegula?

Jessica Pegula is a 32-year-old professional tennis player who is currently the world number three in the WTA rankings.

She reached her career-high ranking of world number three in 2022 and finished the 2024 season ranked world number seven, making it her third consecutive year inside the global top ten.

Pegula has enjoyed significant success over the past two seasons. In 2024, she won the Berlin Open and a WTA 1000 title at the Toronto Open. The following year, she captured three singles titles by winning the tournaments in Bad Homburg, Charleston, and the Austin Open.

Her 2024 season was particularly historic, as she reached the finals of the Canadian Open, the Cincinnati Open, and the US Open in a single summer. This achievement placed her in an exclusive group of players, as the only other women to accomplish this feat in the Open Era are Rosie Casals in 1970, Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1973, and Serena Williams in 2013.

She began her tennis journey at seven years old and grew up idolizing Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis. Over the years, Pegula developed a reliable style of play, and her favorite shot on the court remains her flat backhand down the line.

The upcoming championship match will be a meaningful one for Pegula because the Washington DC Open is her favorite tournament on the tour. It was at this exact event where she won her very first WTA singles title back in 2019.

This final marks the second time that Eala and Pegula have faced each other on the professional WTA Tour. Their first meeting took place in the semifinal round of the Miami Open. That match was a close, three-set battle where Pegula ultimately won with a final score of 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3.

—JMB, GMA News