Alex Eala has a real problem that needs to be fixed. The 21-year-old rising star hasn't developed scary power on her serve, and her opponents know it. While the Filipina has excellent groundstrokes, her serve isn't likely to get her across the threshold of winning her first WTA tournament. Not yet.
Zheng Qinwen, however, does have easy power in her game. What she lacks at times is the ability to adjust her game plan during a match. If her opponent adapts to what the Chinese player is doing, Zheng can't always reclaim dictating how points are constructed.
This was Zheng's task as her first-round 2026 Citi Open match against Eala evolved.
Alex Eala pulled off something Zheng Qinwen couldn't stop at the Citi Open
Eala jumped out to a small lead in the first set, 2-0, but Zheng was certainly never on the verge of dropping the set easily. In fact, she won five of the next six games, breaking Eala's relatively weak serve twice on her way to taking the opener 6-4.
To be sure, Eala is a skilled player, and she is capable of staying in the top 30 for years if she remains healthy. To push long-term into the top 10 and actually start winning events, she has to improve her serve. Stacking wins against elite players deep in Masters 1000 and majors will be nearly impossible otherwise.
Even defeating the more powerful Zheng, a player who has five titles, including a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was a challenge, and the Chinese player is still trying to find her best form after missing months with an elbow injury.
Still, what Eala does have in spades is toughness. After dropping the opening set, she was down 0-40 on her serve in the third game of the second set. She didn't give in, but instead raced off five straight points to steal the win. Zheng had also stunningly dipped in form, and in the next game, the Chinese player fell behind 15-40.
What got Zheng out of losing the game is something Eala can't do yet, just as many players can't. She used her serve to avoid rallies and hit three aces to even the set. At 2-all in the second set, Zheng already had 11 aces. Eala had four herself, but also four double faults.
At 3-all in set two, an unexpected thing happened. Zheng broke Eala at love and appeared on her way to a victory. But the Filipina broke back at love. Neither player winning a point on serve in two consecutive games wasn't how the match had been played, and one might have wondered if a narrative change was coming in favor of Eala.
Again, what she lacks in power, she almost makes up for with mental toughness. She won't quit, and that's a skill some players never have to the level the Filipina does. After breaking Zheng, and even after falling to 0-30 in her next service game, she held, and it was suddenly Zheng playing from behind in the second set.
As Zheng began to struggle with landing her forehand, Eala took advantage and got her second straight break to take the set 6-4. At this point, most of the crowd was loudly behind the Filipina. They appeared to be getting the twist in the match they hoped for.
By the third set, all the power that Zheng Qinwen possessed made little difference. She was defeated by a mentally stronger player, at least at this point. Eala broke the Chinese player twice and began landing her serve with more precision, leading 4-0. Any comeback for Zheng seemed impossible.
Zheng did get one break back, but was broken again in the next game. She was simply making far too many errors against the more aggressive Eala. The Filipina earned the victory, possibly one step closer to winning her first WTA tournament.
Next for Alex Eala in the round of 16 will be Leylah Fernandez. The Canadian defeated Magda Linette in her first-round match.
