Pegula won the first set 6-4 and had broken into the second before the weather forced play to stop, with the score sitting at 1-2 in the second set in Eala’s favor when the suspension was called. The match is scheduled to resume at noon Monday, with the men’s final between Taylor Fritz and Rafael Jodar to follow.
Pegula’s bid for the DC Open title will have to wait until Monday after rain suspended the women’s final on Sunday evening, leaving Pegula with a one-set lead over Alexandra Eala and a match that will need to be finished before the week’s schedule can fully close.
The rain delay creates an unusual finish-and-follow structure for the tournament’s closing day, condensing what would have been a full day of weekend tennis into a Monday double feature. Both matches will be played at a venue that has hosted professional tennis through weather disruptions before, though finishing a women’s final on a weekday is rarely the tournament’s preferred outcome.
Pegula’s position in the match
As the higher-ranked player, Pegula entered the final with the weight of expectation and has been one of the more consistent performers on tour in recent seasons. Pegula has repeatedly proven her ability to close matches she is leading, and taking the first set against a younger opponent in a final carries the psychological weight of having established the match’s early terms.
Eala, a Filipino player who has been rising through the rankings, has shown the kind of fearless baseline game that can make her dangerous even when trailing on the scoreboard. She is younger and earlier in her career arc. There is less experience at this stage of a final, but also potentially less accumulated pressure about what winning or losing would mean for her ranking and trajectory.
The 1-2 score in the second set when play stopped is essentially neutral territory. Neither player had established clear dominance in the partial set, and a resumption from that position will require both to reset and find their rhythm without the benefit of having a full day’s warmup before the decisive portion of the match begins.
The men’s final and what is at stake
Fritz and Jodar are set to play immediately after the conclusion of the women’s final, a scheduling arrangement that assumes the suspended match wraps up at a reasonable pace. Fritz is one of the more established American players on tour and has been building toward consistently winning titles at this level of the draw. A title here would be a meaningful addition to his résumé heading into the hard court swing before the U.S. Open.
Jodar is a Spanish player making his way through the competitive landscape of the tour, and his presence in the final reflects a strong week in Washington. Facing a more experienced opponent in Fritz means the pressure is distributed somewhat unevenly.
The doubles title has been decided
The men’s doubles final was completed before the rain made further play impossible. Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool defeated Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektic 6-3, 6-4 to claim the doubles title, a straightforward result that gave the tournament at least one clean conclusion to its weekend schedule.
Cash and Glasspool have been a productive partnership on tour, and the Washington title adds to their doubles record as the team continues to develop results at the ATP level. Their win clears one piece of the tournament’s unfinished business, leaving only the two singles finals to resolve.
