Each sport appears to be a defining second in Alex Ila’s outstanding improvement.
Trailing 1-5 within the second set, Ila cruised to a formidable victory over defending champion Leila Fernandez, defeating the Filipino-Canadian left-hander 6-2, 7-6 (1) within the second spherical of the 2026 Mubadala DC Open in Washington DC early Thursday morning (Philippine time).
With the win, the 21-year-old Filipino superior to the quarterfinals and is tied with the 2021 US Open finalists at one win apiece.
Fernandes had gained their solely earlier encounter, 6-1, 6-4, within the opening spherical of the Stuttgart Open in April.
This time, nonetheless, Ila took management from the start.
Eala regained the shape he confirmed in his opening match win over Zheng Qinwen and obtained off to a quick begin once more by breaking Fernandes within the second sport to take a 2-0 lead. The Filipino shortly consolidated his benefit with a snug maintain and prolonged his result in 3-0.
After gaining a foothold within the fourth sport with the primary maintain of the match, the Canadian star threatened to show the tide within the subsequent sport, incomes a break level on Ila’s serve. Nevertheless, the world No. 28 held his likelihood with dedication and escaped with a decisive maintain to keep up his third straight cushion at 4-1.
Each gamers continued to play solidly on serve within the subsequent two video games, conserving the rating at 5-2 earlier than Ila clinched the primary set. Ila broke Fernandez for the second time within the eighth sport and closed out the opener 6-2 in one other medical comeback sport.
The largest distinction in Iara’s easy play was the variety of unforced errors she dedicated, with solely 4 in comparison with Fernandes’ 14.
The second set began evenly, with each gamers holding serve by the primary two video games. Though Eara remained tied on the scoreboard, she largely took management early within the second sport, holding off the 23-year-old in a hard-fought 17-point break level earlier than the reigning champion ran away to carry.
Fernandes carried that momentum into his subsequent match, defeating Eara for the primary time, profitable 2-1. The Canadian continued to manage play from the baseline, supporting breaks with snug holds in video games 4 and 6, and including a break of serve in sport 5 to construct a commanding 5-1 benefit.
Nevertheless, Ila refused to falter and held on within the seventh and ninth video games, breaking Fernandez for the primary time within the set between and main three video games in a row, closing the hole to 5-4 and forcing the Canadian to serve out.
And as soon as once more, Ira delivered one other trademark second. Holding the lead on Fernandez’s serve, Ila broke for the third time within the set to take a 6-5 lead, however the reigning champion responded with a break of his personal to drive a tiebreak.
However the momentum was positively tilting in Ila’s favor. The 21-year-old stormed to a 3-0 lead on the breaker and by no means seemed again, main a rally that led to a dominant 7-1 run, finishing one more outstanding comeback.
The win leaves Aira within the final eight awaiting the winner of the spherical of 16 between second seeds Elina Svitolina and Polina Kudermetova.
