WASHINGTON — Alexandra Eala continues to hit new milestones in her young career, adding another in Washington with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No 3 seed Naomi Osaka to reach the biggest final of her career.
Seeking her first WTA Tour title, the 21-year-old will face Jessica Pegula in the ATP Washington Open, who looked every bit the American No 1 in the earlier semi-final.
“I’m super proud of my performance,” Eala said according to AFP.
“I played really well and I had a great mentality and I stayed locked in until the end.”
Pegula defeated No 4 seed Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 27 minutes to reach her fourth final of the season.
Pegula leads their head-to-head 1-0, having won their lone meeting in last year’s Miami semifinals in three tight sets.
Eala faced four break points – all in the fourth game of the match – and erased all but one. Otherwise, she was untouchable.
he broke early for 2-1 in the first set, and although Osaka broke right back for 2-2, Eala earned a second break in the penultimate game and then held at love to take the set.
The Filipina broke again to open the second and repeated the pattern, breaking in the penultimate game, this time to earn the chance to serve for the match.
Osaka saved one match point with a forehand return winner, but Eala closed it out to reach her first 500-level final – and her first hard-court final.
