World No. 4 Jessica Pegula topped the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday, outclassing Elina Svitolina, 6-2, 6-4, to win another WTA title. Afterward, the always-classy veteran gave Filipina ace Alex Eala some very kind words in a wide-ranging postmatch presser.
“Alex is amazing. Hopefully, she’s the next podcast guest and we can kind of get to know her and talk to her more. But the way that she’s been able to pack stadiums and the way that her country supports her is something special and she handles it, I feel like, so maturely with such grace,” Pegula said when asked about Eala. “She just seems so appreciative of all the support she gets and always seems to have a good head on her shoulders and a good attitude about it, but it’s amazing.”
Pegula hosts The Player’s Box podcast with Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk, and an Alex Eala guest appearance could very well prove to be a hit given the support she has from Filipinos all around the world.
Jessica Pegula Knows the Alex Eala Experience Firsthand
The name Jessica Pegula should ring a bell to Alex Eala fans, as the 31-year-old veteran put an end to the latter’s exhilarating Cinderella run in the WTA 1000 Miami Open last year. That run, incidentally, started the Eala mythos, and it has only grown from there, so much so that the 20-year-old Quezon City native has become both popular and a polarizing figure in the world of tennis. Put simply, fans love her, while critics resent her.
Jessica Pegula, though, has only kind words for the Filipina.
“I mean, I played her when she kind of broke out last year in Miami and you know, I’m from there and the whole crowd was against me and I was like what on earth is going on? Like, where do these people come from?” she continued. “Then week after week, as she, you know, has done well and established herself as a really good player on tour, they all come out to support her… You can hear it [Filipino support] from the hotel. You can hear the crowd roaring, especially at night. So, it’s incredible and I think it’s awesome what she’s doing for her sport.”
Pegula, the class act that she is, didn’t stop there as she also noted how Alex Eala is inspiring a new generation of Filipino youth and how she’s the “perfect role model” for such movement.
“She’s the perfect role model for it,” Pegula concluded. “I’m sure she wants to inspire the next generation of girls and Filipino girls to, you know, play tennis and go after their dreams. So, I think it’s awesome for the sport.”
Indeed, Filipinos would agree with Jessica Pegula. Alex Eala really is awesome for tennis.
