Taylor Fritz won in Washington, Alexandra Eala made history

Taylor Fritz won the Washington tournament this evening (Monday), after defeating Rafael Jodar 6:7 (2), 4:6 in the final match. This is the 11th title in the career of the American tennis player (ranked 9th in the world), but the first above the ATP 250 level since Tokyo 2022. The Spaniard (ranked 15th) played good tennis in the first set and could have broken, but did not take advantage of the only opportunity, and in the tie-break, Fritz showed composure and enjoyed the support of the home crowd. In the second set, the American broke twice and went up 3:0, but still got into trouble. After missing four championship points, Jodar had a break opportunity, but he did not take advantage of it, and Fritz took the fifth opportunity to decide the match.

Alexandra Eala made history with the first Filipino title in world tennis, for either a man or a woman. The world number 28 surprised Jessica Pegula in the Washington final, coming back from a deficit to win 4:6, 6:4, 6:0. The American, ranked third in the world and first in the tournament, seemed to be on the sure path to victory, but was broken in the tenth game of the second set and could not recover. Eala secured the win and cried with emotion.

"Special thanks to the Filipino community, here in Washington and at home, everywhere you are in the world. I really feel all the love," said the winner at the end. "Before the final yesterday, I received so many touching messages from my family and friends. I thought to myself how loved I feel. To stand here, in the midst of all this love, in my first opportunity to win a title, and to know that this will not be the last, is very special. Just by reaching this stage and achieving this milestone in my career, I knew that no matter what happened after the match, for me it would already be a victory."