ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Eala eyes repeat against world No. 10 Svitolina in DC Open quarters; battle of top Asians looms

Eala eyes repeat against world No. 10 Svitolina in DC Open quarters; battle of top Asians looms

Published Jul 31, 2026 03:07 pm

At A Glance

  • That will be Alex Eala's battle cry when she collides with world No. 10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinal round of the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington, D.C., Saturday, Aug. 1.
Alex Eala eyes repeat against Elina Svitolina. (Mubadala Open)
Alex Eala eyes repeat against Elina Svitolina. (Mubadala Open)
A courageous victory deserves an encore.
That will be Alex Eala’s battle cry when she collides with world No. 10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinal round of the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington, D.C., Saturday, Aug. 1.
While the 21-year-old Eala is looking for a close encounter just like their duel last month in Germany, fans and experts alike expect the Filipina darling to emerge victorious once again no matter how hard the match would be.
For one, Eala is coming off vengeful wins over Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China in the opening round (4-6, 6-4, 6-1) and Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6 (1), in the Round of 16.
In their Berlin Open quarterfinal showdown – a grass court tournament – Eala scored a 6-3, 6-4 win, a feat that will certainly give her a mental edge.
Their match is set at 6:30 a.m. (Philippine time) with the victor earning the right to face either Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto or No. 3 Japanese Naomi Osaka in the semis.
If stars align, Eala and Osaka could set up an exciting all-Asian semis showdown and it will be the first time that two of the continent's finest meet in the professional circuit.
The other quarters brackets feature No. 1 seed American Jessica Pegula against Anna
Kalinskaya, while Diana Shaider clashes with Luidmila Samsonova.
In beating Fernandez, who has Filipino blood, Eala paid tribute to her patience as she rallied furiously from a 1-5deficit to complete another epic win.
But she’s not looking past Svitolina, who is a four-time Slam semifinalist.
“Then again, every single player here is a fighter,” said Eala during her interview with Tennis Channel.
“And if, whether it’s my opponent today, the one yesterday, the one before that, or the one tomorrow. We’re here because we’re fighters, so you cannot count anybody out,” she added.
Eala, alongside her American friend Iva Jovic, also once took down Svitolina, who partnered with tennis legend Venus Williams, in the Round of 16 of the ASB Classic doubles events.

Related Tags

Alex Eala Elina Svitolina DC Open
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.