WASHINGTON : Alexandra Eala continued her breakthrough season with a commanding 6-4 6-2 victory over third seed Naomi Osaka on Saturday to reach the final of the Mubadala DC Open, where she will face top seed Jessica Pegula.
The 21-year-old Filipino recovered after the players exchanged early breaks, making the decisive move with the opening set level at 4-4. Eala broke Osaka in the ninth game before holding to love to take the set.
She carried that momentum into the second, racing to a 2-0 lead before securing another break for a 5-2 advantage and wrapping up victory in 76 minutes.
Eala will take on Pegula, who rallied from a slow start to beat fourth seed Diana Shnaider 7-5 6-4.
Shnaider led 5-2 in the opening set before Pegula won five straight games to turn the match around. The American then claimed 10 of the next 12 games to open a 5-2 lead in the second set. Although Shnaider broke when Pegula first served for the match, the top seed closed out the contest two games later.
Pegula is chasing her third title of the season and the 12th of her career. She also won the Washington title in 2019, the first WTA trophy of her career.
The American won the pair’s only previous meeting in the semi-finals of the 2025 Miami Open.
Memphis Classic
Sixteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova extended her dream run by defeating Elvina Kalieva 7-5 6-1 to reach the final in her first WTA Tour main draw appearance.
Kalieva served for the opening set at 5-4, but Liutova reeled off three consecutive games before taking control of the second set with an early break. The Russian teenager won six of the final seven games to seal victory.
Liutova became the first player born in the 2010s to reach a WTA Tour final and the youngest finalist since Coco Gauff captured the 2019 Linz title at the age of 15.
Her run to the final has included wins over top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, Australia’s Maya Joint and sixth seed Caty McNally.
Liutova will face another first-time WTA finalist, Czech Darja Vidmanova, who beat Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-3 6-3.
Vidmanova fired five aces, won 76.5% of her first-serve points and saved five of the six break points she faced to book her place in the final.
