{"id":840393,"date":"2026-08-02T19:30:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840393\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T19:30:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:30:26","slug":"eala-vs-pegula-final-delayed-new-start-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/840393\/","title":{"rendered":"Eala vs. Pegula Final Delayed: New Start Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Mubadala\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 01: Alexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates after winning a women’s singles match against Naomi Osaka of Japan on day six of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on August 01, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Alex Eala\u2019s bid for her first WTA title will have to wait a little longer.<\/p>\n

Rain in Washington forced organizers to delay Sunday\u2019s Mubadala DC Open women\u2019s singles final between Eala and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.<\/p>\n

The championship match was scheduled to begin at noon Eastern time on Stadium Court. The WTA initially pushed the start to no earlier than 1:30 p.m. before the tournament announced another delay because of inclement weather.<\/p>\n

Play will not begin before 2:45 p.m. Eastern, according to the Mubadala DC Open\u2019s official update<\/a>\u2060. That corresponds to 2:45 a.m. Monday in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Play will not resume before 2:45pm EST due to rain and lightning. Everyone on site should seek shelter immediately.<\/p>\n

Lightning has cleared and we are no longer mandating shelter in place on site. Play is still scheduled to resume not before 2:45pm EST.<\/p>\n

The revised time remains subject to change depending on the rain and how quickly Stadium Court can be prepared. Fans were advised to monitor the tournament\u2019s social media channels for further updates.<\/p>\n

Alex Eala\u2019s Historic Run to Washington Final\"Mubadala<\/p>\n

GettyAlexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates after winning a women\u2019s singles match against Naomi Osaka of Japan on day six of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on August 01, 2026 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

The delay prolonged the anticipation surrounding one of the most significant matches in Philippine tennis<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

Eala, ranked a career-high No. 28, earned her place in the final by beating four formidable opponents. She rallied past Zheng Qinwen 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 before eliminating defending champion Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 7-6 (1).<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old Filipina followed those victories by defeating world No. 10 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2. She has not lost a set since her opening-round comeback against Zheng.<\/p>\n

Her victory over Osaka sent Eala into the first WTA 500 final of her career and moved her within one win of a breakthrough tour-level championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into this tournament, I looked at the list, and it was jam-packed,\u201d Eala said after the semifinal. \u201cIt was big player after big player after big player. So to be in the final really means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eala added that her growing experience in high-pressure matches has prepared her for Sunday\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in the final for a reason,\u201d Eala said. \u201cI just have to trust myself. She is such an amazing player. I think it\u2019s going to be a really good match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Pegula Braces for Eala\u2019s Filipino Crowd\"Mubadala<\/p>\n

GettyJessica Pegula of the United States celebrates during a women\u2019s singles match against Diana Shnaider of the United States on day six of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on August 01, 2026 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

Pegula, the tournament\u2019s top seed, received a first-round bye before recovering to beat Magdalena Frech 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. She then defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5 and rallied from a 5-2 first-set deficit to overcome Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

The American is pursuing her third title of the season and the 12th of her career. Washington holds special meaning for Pegula, who captured her first WTA title there in 2019.<\/p>\n

Pegula also knows what to expect from Eala\u2019s vocal Filipino supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, obviously, looking back, it\u2019s gotten even crazier,\u201d Pegula said of the following Eala has built since their first meeting.<\/p>\n

Pegula leads their head-to-head series 1-0 after surviving Eala 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3 in the 2025 Miami Open semifinals. Sunday\u2019s weather has postponed the rematch, but it has done little to diminish the stakes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a veteran NBA reporter for Heavy.com, covering the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. He brings over 20 years of experience across local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Originally from the Philippines, he is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 01: Alexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates after winning a women’s singles match…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-840393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}