Jessica Pegula saw the Washington Open title ripped out of her hands from Alex Eala.
Pegula led Eala by a set before rain interrupted the final in Washington D.C. and postponed it to the following day.
When returning to court for the second set, the match turned on its head as Eala beat Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 to win the Washington Open title.
Following Pegula’s Washington Open final defeat, she has now explained why she thinks Eala was able to change the momentum of the final so quickly.
Jessica Pegula highlights Alex Eala’s aggressive game after the Washington Open final
Pegula has little time to recover from the Washington Open final, as she is now preparing for the Canadian Open.
In her pre-tournament press conference ahead of her first match in Toronto, Pegula was asked about the big momentum shift in her defeat to Eala, and how this had also happened in the Filipina’s semi-final against Naomi Osaka.
Pegula explained that Eala is a very aggressive player and takes the ball early, which can make the match go very quickly for her opponents.
The American also admitted that her level dropped off on Monday following the rain delay, with Pegula particularly highlighting her return as a weakness against Eala.
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“Yeah, I think the way that she plays, with taking the ball really early and super aggressive,” said Pegula. “To me, girls that kind of play like that, they can go on swings of momentum very quickly because everything starts happening very fast if you’re the opponent.
“Like, all of a sudden she’s changing the ball, taking it early, hitting winners, you’re out of position, and things kind of move quickly. I think that’s probably one of the reasons why you see that sometimes in her matches, or why she can flip matches really quickly, if she can kind of find her range, and let’s say the other person isn’t maybe doing a good enough job of getting her out of rhythm. So I think that’s one of the reasons that you’ve seen that.
“Sometimes it just comes down to you have those weeks where, I mean, I’ve had those weeks where, for whatever reason, I come back after losing the first set every single match, or I’m always down a break. I think I had a couple matches in DC as well where I kind of didn’t start off great, and then I was able to flip the momentum really quickly.
“I think we play a little bit similar in that aspect, where we can kind of start taking the ball early, and I think playing really quickly, and kind of like take time away from our opponents. So I think that’s one of the things strategically.
“Then sometimes I think it’s just those weeks where sometimes you’re just, you don’t figure it out until after you lose the first set. I’ve definitely had those weeks where that happens to me as well.
“The rain delay was tough. I felt like I was playing much better tennis on Sunday than I did on Monday. For whatever reason, I just wasn’t quite seeing the ball. I came out a little bit flat. We had a really long day Sunday. I think she was playing a little bit better.
“So just the difference of me not playing as well and her playing better is the difference of the match kind of changing, which is unfortunate.
“Like, I felt like, I have no idea if I would have won, obviously, on Sunday. I think at the time, having won the first set, and I think I almost broke her kind of at the end of the second before we stopped. So I did feel like I had more of the momentum.
“Also I think, with the way she plays, with playing a lefty, with her serve kind of being hard to return and all that stuff, like having that momentum, being able to keep that, I thought I was returning much better. Whereas, I came out Monday and I feel like I returned absolutely horrible.
“So just, like, losing that momentum really quickly, it’s always easier when you find it to kind of keep it than having to come back and start all over again.”
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Jessica Pegula explains how Alex Eala has improved since their first match
Pegula’s defeat to Eala was the second time she had played against the Filipina, having beaten her in the 2025 Miami Open semi-finals in her breakout run last year.
When asked what she thinks is different about Eala now, Pegula suggested that she now seems more confident and is managing her emotions better during matches.
“Yeah, I would say, I don’t know, I think just experience and confidence being at that level,” said Pegula. “I think too, like probably learning how to manage her emotions throughout a match a little bit better. Whereas Miami, everything was new, new, new, and she was playing I think with a lot of energy and adrenaline.
“I think now obviously having established herself on tour as a top player, having a lot of big wins to follow that tournament up, I think that just, at least in my experience, you learn how to manage kind of your emotions a little bit better throughout a tournament. I think she did a really great job of that, and was able to really come out and play some great tennis, especially after the delay.”
Pegula will only have the chance to get revenge on Eala at the Canadian Open if both players reach the final again.
In her opening match, two-time former champion Pegula will take on Magdalena Frech, while Eala faces another American in Alycia Parks.
