Alex Eala beat Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Mubadala DC Open on Saturday, ousting a four-time Grand Slam champion to reach the first WTA 500 final of her career. It was the first career meeting between the two.
Osaka struggled on serve throughout, winning just 59% of her first-serve points and getting broken four times in 12 chances. Eala won 71% of her first-serve points and 83% of her second-serve points.
"I'm feeling great. I thought it was a really good match, so I'm really proud of my performance," Eala said. On her return game against one of the tour's best servers: "The quality of my shot was pretty good today, and I did pretty well returning. She's obviously a great server. Some of the first balls were really good, as well."
The win capped a week in which Eala also beat No. 10 Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals — her sixth win over a top-10 opponent this season. Asked about the level of competition she's faced at this tournament alone, she didn't downplay it. "Going into this tournament, I looked at the list, and it was, like, jam-packed. It was big player after big player after big player. So to be in the final really means a lot to me," Eala said. "I think I am really happy with how I performed and how I've conducted myself on court against these caliber of players.
"You know kind of what the stakes are, and you know what level you kind of have to bring in order to compete against these types of players," she added.
Meanwhile, Osaka was to the point with her post-match reflections. "I feel like I hit a lot of unforced errors," Osaka said.
It's Eala's second tour-level final, after finishing runner-up at Eastbourne last year, and her first on a hard court.
Eala plays top-seeded Jessica Pegula in Sunday's final at noon — a rematch of last year's Miami Open semifinal, which Pegula won. "She hits quite a flat ball, makes the opponent uncomfortable, or at least I felt uncomfortable last time," Eala said. "There will definitely be a certain set of challenges. She is where she is for a reason, so I'm going to try to face it head on and do what I can."
Pegula said she expects Eala to have most of the crowd support, as fans have been clamoring to watch the rising Filipina star all week. "I don't think I'm going to be the favorite," Pegula said.
The men's final follows, with Taylor Fritz facing either Rafael Jodar or Alejandro Tabilo.