Sport

Tennis: Eala beats Osaka 6-4 6-2 and reaches Washington Open final

Herz — Sport Desk · 2 August 2026 at 07:14 · 30s summary · 3 min read

The essentials

Alexandra Eala (Philippines, 21) defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4 6-2 on August 2, 2026 in the Washington Open semifinal, according to BBC and Yahoo Sports. The Philippine will face American Jessica Pegula, world No. 3, in the final this Sunday. Thanks to this performance, Eala will reach No. 24 in the WTA rankings—the main international professional women's tennis circuit, established in 1973—marking a new career high. She started the season outside the top 50.

Eala beats Osaka 6-4 6-2 in semifinal on August 2, 2026
Final against Pegula (No. 3 in the world) scheduled for this Sunday
Eala will reach No. 24 in WTA rankings, a career record
6 wins over top-10 players in 2026, including Swiatek at Wimbledon
Fritz and Jodar reach the men's singles final at Washington

What we know

Alexandra Eala (Philippines, 21) eliminated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka with a score of 6-4 6-2 on August 2, 2026 in the Washington Open semifinal, according to BBC and Yahoo Sports.

The Philippine will face American Jessica Pegula, world No. 3, in the final this Sunday. This will be their second head-to-head meeting: Pegula had won in three sets in the semifinal of the Miami Open 2025.

Against Osaka, Eala won 71% of her first-serve points and lost only four points on her second serve.

Eala's tournament run

Before defeating Osaka, Eala had successively eliminated No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina, then 2025 tournament champion Leylah Fernandez.

A historic 2026 season for the Philippines

With her run at Washington, Eala will reach No. 24 in the WTA rankings—the main international professional women's tennis circuit, founded in 1973—a new career high. She had started the season outside the global top 50.

In 2026, Eala has recorded six victories against top-10 players, including the elimination of defending champion Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon in July.

At Wimbledon 2026, she became the first Philippine singles player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam in the history of professional tennis.

Quotes

I'm more complete now, physically a bit better. I played really well, with great mentality, and I remained focused until the end.
— Alexandra Eala, after her victory over Osaka (Washington Open, August 2, 2026)

future of the tour
— Jessica Pegula about Alexandra Eala, before the Washington Open final

The other women's semifinal: Pegula defeats Shnaider

Jessica Pegula reached the final by defeating Russian Diana Shnaider 7-5 6-4, after erasing a 2-5 deficit in the first set.

Men's singles: Fritz and Jodar in the final

American Taylor Fritz, No. 3 seed and 10th in the world, will face Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the men's singles final. Fritz defeated his compatriot Brandon Nakashima 6-3 3-6 6-3, delivering 13 aces in his semifinal.

Jodar, who started the season ranked 165th, will break into the top 20 thanks to his Washington run. He defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4 in the semifinal.