Alex Eala needs MORE respect! Toronto Preview + Predictions

Alex Eala is in the middle of an outstanding run to the D.C. Open finals, where she defeated four heavy hitters in a row: Qinwen Zheng, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, and now Naomi Osaka. Despite her GOATED run, people are finding ways to discredit her success, which doesn't sit right with me. I also break down the Canadian Open (Toronto) draw, which sees the return of Sabalenka, Gauff, Swiatek, and more top women's stars.

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Alex Iyala is in the middle of a truly outstanding DC Open debut. After dominating Naomi Osaka 6'4-6-2 in the semifinal for her first final of 2026 and the biggest of her career, the Filipina Sensation is currently trailing Jessica Bagula's 6'4-1-2 in a tight finale in the nation's capital. I originally planned to go out with this Iala Osaka semifinal recap-centered video in the Wii hours of the morning Sunday, but I was too tired and I figured I'd just wait for the final to be completed, but it got suspended and now would not be resumed until Monday noon. So I figured in the meantime, why not speak about Alex's exceptional win over Naomi and her run in DC overall? Because I want to address the narrative going on right now that Alex only got here in the final because her opponents played poorly. And I'll also preview the Canadian Open Women's Draw, which sees the returns of Sabalenka, Robin of Golf, Shantek, and more. Hello, my name is Christian Bass Knight, and welcome to Christian's Court where I cover tennis from all angles. If you have not yet already, make sure you subscribe and click the notification bell so you're notified whenever I post my DC final recap slash Canadian Open Men's preview. Now, first, I am not surprised that Alex beat Naomi at all. And I predicted internally that Ayala would win this match because she was in better form coming into the semifinals compared to Naomi. Alex had beaten a lot of quality players, Chinwen Jung, Leila Fernandez, Alinas Fitolina, and now Naomi. Her run is goaded. I'm sorry. And Naomi, meanwhile, she received a retirement win over Ashland Krueger in round two, and she barely scraped by Elisa Beta Cochereto, playing not her best tennis for the majority of that match. I was very interested to see how the serve will play out for both women in that semifinal. Naomi, of course, has the stronger serve, but she struggled with her first serve percentage in her opening two matches and served at just 48% of first serves in against Cochereto. And this match was really surprising because Iala won 71% of her first serve points one and 79% of her second serve points won. You would have thought that those were Naomi's statistics. And Naomi, I was surprised by how much she struggled with Alex's serve. And Alex's serve speed on average was about 10, maybe 15 mile per hour slower than Naomi's, but she gave Osaka a lot of fit. Alex did place her first serves well at times for some serve as winners, and then the sliced body second serve threw Osaka off a number of times. It looked like it was difficult for Naomi to attack that second serve, and she couldn't properly apply pressure and thus was put on the back foot a number of times. I felt that Naomi took too much of a deep return positioning behind her second serves, her second serve returns. I think she could have done better if she stood up closer to the baseline. But on the flip side, Alex was all on top of Naomi's second serve. She allowed Naomi to win just 48% of her second serve points. And Naomi she hit five aces but also five double faults. And definitely was not a spectacular serving performance from her. She was under pressure during most of her service games, and she faced 12 break points in total. Alex read her serve well and connected with a number of them, and she got the return really right back deep on Osaka. And she did such a great job of smothering Naomi. Anytime Osaka left the ball short, she was all over top of it. And I love her willingness also to come forward. I felt like Alex, crazy enough, was in control of most of the points. And again, that's surprising to me considering how Naomi has more power behind her ground strokes. Naomi said after her win over Colcheretto that she found it difficult to control her balls, her shots in DC. Her forehand was definitely very off in that quarterfinal win. And it was the same thing here against Yala. Her forehand just sprayed way too many errors. But it also looked like sometimes she tried to overcorrect and play a bit too safe. But Alex was all on top of those balls. Any ball that Naomi kind of left, you know, light in the court without much pace behind it. Yala was all on top of that. But Naomi's forehand, it hurt her in very crucial moments in this match, like at 4-0 in the opening set where she sprayed a few errors. And then when Naomi was down 2-3 in the second set, I felt that this was a crucial moment for her to regain control after saving four break points the previous game. But again, her forehand failed her and everything went downhill. I feel like she was just pressing too much towards the end of the match, and her frustration just totally took over. And she was mad, I think, that she wasn't able to hit through Alex and didn't have the consistency to build her points either. And Naomi was asked after the match what made the difference for her, and she said, I felt like I hit a lot of unforced errors. So that was probably one of the main reasons. And Naomi, she finished with 34 unforced errors to 18 winners. Alex, meanwhile, hit 22 winners to 18 unforced errors. And I spoke with both Layla and Chin Wen this week after their losses to Iala, and I asked them basically what made her such a difficult opponent. And Chinwen, she said that when she was up 4-3 in the second set, up a set and a break, that her inability to close was more due to her level dipping rather than Alex's level raising. She also said that she was cramping around that time. But Layla, in her second round match with Alex, she was up 5-1 in the second set, but lost the last like six of seven games of the match. And Layla blamed herself for a poor start and for just changing her tactics. So, you know, you get the impression from the players that, you know, they feel very frustrated obviously with their games, and they feel like their losses were more so due to their levels dropping. But I feel like a lot of fans obviously feel the same way, if not stronger. And a lot of them are even discrediting Alex's run to the finals. And I remember I tweeted and I gave Alex her props saying that she beat all these big name players en route to the final. And there were some people who discredited her and saying that they that those players underperformed and were all that. Now, I definitely don't think that those players played their best. And also when you look at it, Zhang is struggling a lot with her confidence. Fernandez, I actually thought that she played well in her first match in DC, but she wasn't able to play as well for big parts against Alex. Sfitsalina, I mean, Alex beat Switzerina before in Berlin. Plus, Sfitsalina, I mean, she has been struggling a little bit since Roland Garros. And then Naomi, I mean, Naomi didn't play horrible, but definitely wasn't on her game. But still, you have to give Alex her her tens and her credit for preventing those opponents from playing their best. She does a lot of things really well that takes opponents off their game. First of all, she has one of the best returns on tour. She anticipates and deflects very well. She can also produce the most awe-inspiring shots, and the way she attacks and applies pressure is very impressive as well. I don't think as many opponents are as used to players like Alex who go up the line, change direction, go up the line as much as she does. I think that catches them off guard a lot. I've noticed that throughout this entire tournament. And I think Alex does a great job of, you know, compensating for her weaker serve with her strong plus one. She is very, very aggressive. If your return is not solid enough, she's gonna jump on top of that baseline and try to be as aggressive as possible. Her aggressive baseline play does not get nearly enough shine. I also think her shot placement is very intelligent, too. But the balls, as I mentioned before in DC have been flying a lot on players this tournament. So that helps even more consistent players like an Inyala to take advantage of that. Really, I think with this tournament, the takeaway for me is that Alex, she very well could be here to stay as a top 20 player. I mean, she already is guaranteed to crack the top 25 as a result of this run. But just thinking back on her recent results, obviously I think Grass is one of her best surfaces. I think overall the quicker, the quicker conditions, the quicker surfaces suit her game the best. She won a 125. She made the the semifinals of Berlin, knocking out Svitolina and Rabacca. Mind you, I think she's on a winning streak of beating four top 10 players in a row. She made the woman in fourth round, losing a tight three-set match to Jasmine Paolini. She's only 21 years old. We have to remind ourselves of that. So she's only getting better and better and better. And a lot of it, I think, is confidence-based, but still, I think I've noticed a lot of improvements with her level and with her game just in DC alone. I still think definitely she has more to prove to other people, but for me at least, I'm convinced. But looking at this Pagula Iyala match that's ongoing right now, I mean, we witnessed a few trades of early breaks, and Alex was able to take advantage of some shaky play from Pagula to get a 4-3-40-15 edge. Like she had two break points against Pagula, but Pagula erased them with clutch play. And I think here her experience came through. I mean, she won 11 titles overall to this year alone. Alex has still yet won her made in WTA tour level title. And at one point, Jessica, she was at four winners, 14 unforced errors in the opening set, so she was not playing her best tennis, but she locked in very well as she finished the set with 11 winners to 15 unforced errors. Alex, meanwhile, she definitely got a little bit more error-prone towards the end of this first set. And she finished the set with seven winners to 17 unforced errors. I will be intrigued to see how this delay impacts both players. They waited around for a very long time, so it will be tough, and both will be traveling to Canada immediately after for that Toronto National Bank Open. I think the momentum might have been with Alex considering how she was up 2-1 in the second set, but I think maybe Pagula would have taken it regardless. So I think the delay might overall have helped Iala. Not only will it give her extra, you know, time to regroup and have a better strategy, but she'll have more time to rest. And considering how she played more tennis than Pagula this week, she needs all the rest that she can get. In my, you know, now scrapped initial video. I had Alex winning this match in three sets. Obviously, Pagula's winning, so I might change that. But you know what? Let's stick with it. Let's stick with Alex winning in three sets. What the hell, sure. But the men's final, of course, was also suspended. That's between Taylor Fritz and Rafa Hodar. Both of those guys pulled off three set wins. Taylor defeated Brandon Hakoshima 6-3-3-6-63 on Saturday night while Rafa defeated Alejandro DeBillo 6-7-6-4-6-4. Fritz beat Hodar in their long previous meeting in Del Rey Beach 7-6-6-4. But I predict Hodar gets his revenge here in this final. I feel like with the way he's been working the crowd, it just gives the vibe that he'll win this title for his biggest of his career thus far. And I also think the fact that he made their first match from Del Rey that competitive and he wasn't as good of a player back then as he is now, that's only gonna help him more, I feel. So I have Hodar winning this one in let's say three sets. Now moving up to Canada, um, the Canadian opened the first 1000 of this North American hardcourt swing, summer hardcourt swing is here. And first starting with Arena Salabalenka in her section, Salanka, she'll start her campaign on the ninth session on Tuesday. This will be a big tournament for her, in my opinion. I think confidence-wise, she hasn't been the strongest, as she hasn't made a final since the Miami Open. And also it'll be important for her ranking as Elena Robacina is inching a little bit closer, kinda, to taking the number one ranking, or at least she will once her U.S. open points come off, once Sal Blanca's U.S. open points come off. But here in this draw, Sal Blanca will open against Moyuka Uchijima in the second round, and then Arena is projected to face Yelena Osterpenko in the third round, which would be a rematch of their Womb and third round match, which Sal Blanca won in straight sets. That was a great match from her. And then Arena is projected to face a Katarina Alexandrova in the fourth round. She also played a Katarina during the grass season in Berlin, winning that match in straight sets as well. Maya Holinska is here too, and she's competing for the first time since her ankle injury that she sustained at Womboden. So I'll be looking forward to seeing her back in action. I think Sabalenka, she'll be okay with this section. Definitely. I think Osterpenko and Alexandrova pose the biggest threats here as they can match her pound for pound, but I still think that this would be her section to win. So I'm having her come through to make the quarterfinals. Next is Amanda Anisemova section, and Amanda, she made the finals here in Toronto back in 2024, so she definitely can play well here. This would be an important tournament for Anisemova as well because she's defending those 1,300 points from the US Open last year from making the finals. She could face fellow big hitting player Clara Towson in the third round. 2019 champion Bianca Andrescu is here too, and she plays Nicola Bartunkova in round one, which will be tough. Alina Sfitsolina is here in the fourth round, and Anastasia Patapova looms as well. This is definitely a bit of an opportunity section for sure, but I think I'll have Sfitulina over Anna Samova. I think that Svitalina has a strong head-to-head record over Amanda, four and one, and she eliminated Amanda at the Canadian Open last year. So I'm picking former champions Fitzolina. I think she won the title back in 2017, picking her through to make the quarterfinals. Next is Jessica Pagula in her section. And Pagula, who is a two-time champion from Canada, she could face Magdalena Freck again in the second round. They faced off in the DC tournament. And then followed by that, she could face Katarina Sinyakova. And Venus Williams was here, but she lost to Camilla Rakamova. I think this is her 13th loss in a row now at this point in singles. I'm just tired of Venus, honestly. I I I Venus, give it up in singles. I'm sorry. I had to say it. Then Pagula could face either Deanna Schneider or Anakalan Skaya in the fourth round, and she actually beat both of those women in DC, but still both of them would be tough. Either of them would would be tough in this in this hypothetical fourth round match. I think it might be a little bit of a challenge for Pagula to bounce back after DC, considering she didn't isn't gonna have that much rest following the the final in Canada. So that could definitely hurt her. I was gonna pick Pagula, but give me Schneider here to come through to make the to make the quarterfinals. Next is Iga's Fiancec section, and she will begin her campaign in the day session on Tuesday. This is not a great section for Fiontek. There are several big hitters here. You have Vecich in round three, although Iga does have a 4-0 head-to-head edge over the Croat. But Marta Kostuk or Madison Keyes could await her in the fourth round. Keyes lost to Lumila Samsonova in round one in DC, so she's looking for some redemption. Marta was supposed to play DC, but she withdrew. This will be her first tournament since making the semifinals at Wimbledon. And Marta has been on fire since the start of the clay season, winning 22 of her last 24 matches. I think this will be a good test for Ega, honestly. And Ega has not had a great season, just one semifinal, but I'm gonna go with the woman with the most confidence lately, and that is definitely Marta Costa to come through to make the quarterfinal. Now transitioning to looking at the bottom half of the draw, you have branding woman in champion Linda Noskova. This is her first tournament as a slam champion. She could play Alex in the third round and she beat Alex in the Berlin semifinal. Alex could also start against Alicia Parks on Wednesday night, which would be a rematch of their Australian Open 2026 first round. But Linda Benchic down there is tough. Marie Boskova has been solid this season. I think Taylor Townsend and Tadisa Valentova should be a good match, but I'm not expecting them to shake things up in this section. I feel like it might take a bit for Noskova to adjust to being a slam champion. And I think Bencic definitely is no opponent to look over. And I'm having the Swiss woman take this section to reach the quarterfinals. Next is Coco Goff in her section. I'm curious to see how Goff rebounds from that heartbreaking one-winning semifinal loss that she suffered to Carolina Muhova. Coco has a decent draw, in my opinion, though. I think that she should clear Deion Perry or the qualifier in round two. She's beaten Maria Sakri in five of their last six meetings, so I think that she should handle her if they face off in round three. Coco would likely face a fellow American in round four and either Eva Jovic or Emma Navarro. She's lost her last two matches Coco has against Navarro, but both of them were in 2024. I think Jovic could be very tough for Coco, and she nearly beat Goff on Coco's best surface on clay and Rome. So definitely that match would be a little bit tough for Coco as well. But I think that Goff will have a good tournament in Toronto, and I think that she'll at least make the quarterfinals. Mira Andreva section is perhaps the most interesting of them all. She could start against Carolina Plushkova in the second round, followed by home favorite Layla Fernandez in round three, and then Naomi Osaka Kalum for Andreva in round four. But Naomi could play at least Murnaz in round three, and Murnaz beat her here in Toronto in 2024. But I would love to see an Osaka Andreva match. Mira hasn't had the best results since becoming a slam champion. I believe she's one and two since winning Roland Garrett, so this will be an important tournament for her to get some of her mojo back ahead of the US Open. I think that Naomi didn't play well for sure in N D, but I think the conditions in Toronto will better suit her level here. So I'm having her make the quarterfinals. And then last but not least, we have Elena Rabakina in her section. I think Elena has a decent section, but her fourth round would be tricky in either Sorana Kristella and Babora Kchikova. You also cannot overlook Lomila Samsonova. Rabacana don't know what to expect from her. She has not had a good season really since winning Stuttgart. So she could be vulnerable. I think that Sorana Kristella could do her big one here in this section and take it. So I'm picking Kristella to move through to the quarterfinals. And Krista has had a good tournament in Toronto before, making the finals back in 2013. Giving y'all my predictions, I have in the semifinals, Salanka against Kostuk and then golf against Osaka. In the finals, I have Salanka against Osaka with Salanka winning the title. I know I didn't really give too much thought into Canada. I'm sorry, y'all. I honestly, transparently have been struggling a little bit with you know my mental state, but I am excited to be going to Toronto, actually covering it in person. So looking forward to that. But yeah, that's officially the end of this video. Let me know your thoughts on Alex's run and if you feel like she has impressed you and if she has changed your opinions on her and her career with this again with this run. Again, make sure you subscribe and click that notification bell so you're notified for my video after the DC final and my video kind of covering the Canadian Open men's draw. But thank y'all so much for watching and for your support. And I'll see you all next time here on Christian's Court.