WTA Weekly: Eala scales new heights in Washington | Top 20 ranking - how far can she go? Pegula falls short in DC, but is she still one of the favourites for the US Open? Toronto Preview

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
On the under $3 menu at McDonald's, a McChicken is $2. Because when you're craving a McChicken, you deserve a McChicken.

**Vance Vermani** (0:09)
And now that McChicken is just $2 with McValue. Limit time only, prices and participation may vary, prices may be higher for delivery.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:15)
My name is Clara Tausen, and I'm a friend of the show.

**Vance Vermani** (0:20)
I am Francisco George, and I'm a friend of the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:23)
Perfect.

**Vance Vermani** (0:24)
Hi, my name is Susan Lehmans, and I'm a friend of the show. Boom. My name is Zainab Samas, and I'm a friend of the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:32)
Boom.

**Vance Vermani** (0:33)
Hey, guys, my name is Sasha Vickery, and I'm a friend of the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:36)
Boom.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:38)
Hi, my name is Lloyd Harris, and I'm a friend of the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:41)
Perfect.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:43)
Hi, my name is Jamfaria, and I'm a friend of the show.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:46)
Boom.
Hi, my name is Jasmine Paolini, and I'm a friend of the show. Wow, Jasmine, you got it in one time.

**Vance Vermani** (0:56)
Ready.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:00)
Play.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:15)
Well, hello there, and welcome to WTA Weekly. And what a WTA Weekly. It is a momentous episode because of the technical difficulties that we are currently experiencing.
And who better to celebrate that with? Well, actually, the better person would be John Silk, but John is not available today. So, the WTA Weekly is a momentous episode, but we are also here to celebrate the first ever WTA title of Alex Eala. And who better to celebrate that with? Well, actually, the better person would be John Silk, but John is not available today. So, the person we're gonna go with is the second best, which is Vanch Vermani. Vanch, how are you doing?

**Vance Vermani** (2:18)
Doing really well, and I'm so honored to be on this show because Alex Eala is a huge part of our coverage at Talking Tennis. And obviously, a lot of it is thanks to John, but also we've just been so honored with Alex, like right from the beginning of our breakthrough, and much before Miami, and just so much more after that. And she brings a lot of eyeballs to tennis, and she's just been awesome yet again. And this is the highlight of her career so far, and so I'm happy to talk about it.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:46)
Which is, yeah, absolutely, it's huge. It's huge for tennis, it's huge for Filipino sport. She's won a WTA title, she's won a 500 title. Like that's a big deal on the tour. Okay, it's a third tier. But actually, to win five consecutive matches in the way that she did at this level is really, really hard. And she's now top 20
So, like, I don't think we were surprised by her eventually winning a WTA title. I don't even think we were that surprised that she'd win a 500 or something like a hard court or even a grass court. But yeah, Vance, do you have her down as a top 20 player?

**Vance Vermani** (3:31)
I did, actually. I did have her down, but what surprised me is how quickly it's come. I thought she would get there one day because I always thought she reminded me a lot of Leila Fernandez, but even more like just ultra aggressive and just improving at such a fast rate. But for it to come this week, on the heels, I mean, really she's been in awesome form since she won the 125 after Roland Garros in Birmingham, right? Since then, I mean, she's just been beating top 10 player, one top 10 player after another. But the way she had to do it this week against Junction when down a set and a break, turning that match around in three, doing so very impressively and then coming back and beating Fernandez from a 1-5 deficit in the second set, that I thought was tremendous. And then also just the way that her leveled up pretty much the whole time against Fidelina.
At times they were both breaking each other left and right, and she's just such a good returner. But then what impressed me so much is how she was able to absorb Naomi's power in the semis, and then eventually come back after one set, and the postponement of the final, and then turn her around the way she did on Pegula. I've rarely ever seen Pegula look that flustered, like she was in the third set, and a lot of it is just credit to Alex and how aggressively she was playing, and how difficult it was for Pegula to just get her teeth into the third set at all, and just shake off losing the second. But it's just such a big streak now of her beating top 10 opponents, getting into the top 20, like you said, and I think she can honestly go even further, and push towards the top 10 in the next few weeks, because she just has so much momentum, and there's still so much more to play for after this.