“She reminds me of Leylah Fernandez” – Pegula on Miami’s breakout star, Eala
After coming through a tough battle against Alexandra Eala, Jessica Pegula compared the teenage wildcard to Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez, Zuma / Panoramic
Jessica Pegula, who will compete in the final of the Miami Open on Saturday against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, could have been forgiven for thinking she had travelled back a year.
In 2024, at this same tournament, she came through a testing battle against Leylah Fernandez, eventually coming through 7-5, 6-4. One year later, the American came much closer to losing in the semi-finals to the breakout star of the tournament, Alexandra Eala, whom she rightly compared – like many – to the Canadian player.
“She reminds me of Leylah Fernandez,” the American revealed in her post-match press conference.
“She takes the ball very early, she plays very well with the angles, she uses her forehand down the line a lot, she has a strong competitive spirit, she reads the game well and she always looks to move forward.”
All these elements should take her very far. Could she go as far, or even further, as Fernandez at the 2021 US Open? Time will tell.
Eala, the Cinderella story of Miami
In the meantime, to use the same term as the WTA, Eala is the “Cinderella” of this Miami Open. Ranked 140th in the world and holder of a wildcard, the protégé of the Rafael Nadal‘s academy became the second wildcard to beat three Grand Slam winners in the same tournament (after Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon in 2023), eliminating Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek in turn.
Against the finalist of last season’s US Open, Eala fought with everything she had, only losing after a battle of 2 hours and 56 minutes, eventually going down 7-6(3), 5-7-, 6-3 having been down 5-2 in the first set.
“She played like someone who has nothing to lose, she let go of her shots and she bothered me a lot with her serve,” Pegula continued.
“The court is very slow but he keeps the ball low and it’s difficult to commit to returning. I wanted to be more committed but I didn’t want to give him free points either. Next time I’ll try to start more aggressively but frankly, she’s a great player.”
Pegula, the world No 4, will try to win the fourth title of her career on Saturday. She will not start as the favourite against Sabalenka, who beat her back-to-back last year in the final of Cincinnati and the US Open.
