Alex Eala has continued her remarkable run by barging into the third round of National Bank Open in Toronto with a tough 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Alycia Parks on Wednesday (Thursday morning, PST).
She remains perfect -- now 6-0 -- in her North American hard-court swing, with the first five wins culminating in her title victory at the Mubadala DC Open.
The emphatic win over Parks also saw Eala avenge her 6-0, 3-6, 2-6 defeat by the American in the opening round at this year's Australian Open.
"I am eternally grateful," Eala said after the match, displaying great excitement in front of a large number of flag-waving fans in the crowd.
"I mean, I just came off Washington, so I really feel like this is a celebration."
"And you know, my fellow Filipinos, I see you every single week supporting me. Week after week, I witness just how much you love our country and what it means to be Filipino."
"That's why I'm so, so, so incredibly proud to be a Filipino myself. Thank you so much, my fellow Filipinos. I love you all," Eala said in Filipino.
"Thank you to everyone who's supporting tennis and creating atmospheres like this. It's really the pleasure of my life to experience these things."
The players held serve comfortably through the opening three games before Eala began applying sustained pressure on Parks' delivery in the fourth.
Eala, the No. 25 seed after her victory in Washington, D.C., won that fourth game to claim the first break of the contest, using her aggressive return to force errors from Parks. She then navigated a tightly contested service game to consolidate the break and move ahead 4-1.
The reigning DC Open champion thereafter seized complete control of the opening set.
She broke Parks for a second time in the sixth game before confidently serving it out in the next, reeling off five consecutive games to wrap up the opener in just 31 minutes.
Parks fired four aces in the first set but struggled to back up her serve from the baseline, committing 18 unforced errors. Eala, meanwhile, remained steady, limiting herself to just seven unforced errors while consistently extending rallies and capitalizing on the world No. 71's miscues.
Parks responded well in the second set, both players holding serve comfortably through the opening two games before the American faced her first real test at 1-1. Eala's relentless returning immediately put Parks under pressure, but the big-serving American leaned on her first serve to escape a tightly contested third game and edge ahead 2-1
Alex Eala was HYPED after her win š¤ #NBO26 pic.twitter.com/G6ftXsnWar
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 6, 2026
The Filipina answered with another confident hold, continuing to protect her own serve with authority before once again zeroing in on Parks' delivery. Eala earned four break points in the fifth game, through a series of deep returns and extended baseline exchanges, but Parks produced timely serves and aggressive first-strike tennis to fend them all off and take a narrow 3-2 advantage.
The second set appeared destined for a tiebreak with neither player yielding on serve through the opening nine games, but Parks finally broke through in the 10th game and she capitalized on that advantage by serving it out to force a decider.
Eala picked up the pace early in the deciding set, breaking in the first game and following up with a hold of serve to claim a 2-0 lead.
Parks responded immediately, backing up her aggressive baseline play with a comfortable service hold then breaking Eala to level the set at 2-2.
Eala quickly regained the initiative and raised the intensity on return, forcing the 2023 Cincinnati doubles' champion into a string of errors to secure her second break of the set before following up with a composed hold of serve to restore her two-game cushion at 4-2.
Eala then claimed another break in the seventh game before serving out for the victory.
Eala next faces against another American, Catherine McNally, who upset Wimbledon champion and No. 6 seed Linda Noskova, 7-6(5), 6-1, for a spot in the Round of 16.