Alex Eala confident historic DC Open title won't be her only chance at a trophy

Alex Eala is eager for more as she believes her historic triumph at the 2026 Mubadala DC Open is only the start of more to come in her young and rising tennis career.

READ MORE | Alex Eala becomes first Filipino to win WTA Tour title with DC Open triumph

Fresh off becoming the first Filipino to win a WTA Tour singles title, the 21-year-old expressed confidence that her breakthrough victory in Washington would not be the last chance at a trophy in her career.

And based on what she showed throughout her remarkable DC Open campaign, Eala has every reason to believe that.

"Standing here in the middle of all this love, my first chance at the title, knowing it won't be my last, and already having achieved this feat and this milestone for my career, I knew that whatever would have happened after this match, it would have already been a win for me," Eala said as she lifted the trophy.

"So thank you everybody. And I really look forward to seeing you guys again."

Eala's confidence stemmed from a dream run in Washington, where she battled through a field loaded with champions and some of the biggest names on the WTA Tour.

She first ousted reigning Olympic and Asian Games champion Zheng Qinwen in the Round of 32 before dethroning defending DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez in the next round.

Eala turned even more heads in the latter stages of the tournament, stunning world No. 13 Naomi Osaka and world No. 10 Elina Svitolina both in straight sets to book the first WTA 500 final appearance of her career.

The final itself was a test of resilience.

Eala dropped the opening set against world No. 3 Jessica Pegula before having to wait 20 hours to finish the match after bad weather forced play to be suspended. But whether under storm clouds or clear skies, nothing was going to deny Eala the moment she had been chasing for years as she completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 come-from-behind victory.

Eala, though, didn't keep the credit all to herself and instead thanked the people who have stood by her and helped her put in the work every single day.

"There's a long list of people I want to thank and at the top of that list is my family, my mom, my dad, my brother, my team, Joan (Bosch), who's over there, Lluc (Bauza) and Sandro (Viaene). Thank you guys," she added.

"They're my inner circle. They're the ones who are putting in the work every day with me, who make me feel like I'm not enduring alone or putting in the hard work alone because I know they're right there with me. So thank you guys."

—JMB, GMA News