Leylah Fernandez is heading back to the Mubadala DC Open with a title to defend after winning the Washington event last year, while Alexandra Eala is also back in the draw and will compete in both singles and doubles with Venus Williams.
Fernandez captured her fourth career WTA title at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open, beating Anna Kalinskaya in the final after knocking out top seed Jessica Pegula and rallying past Elena Rybakina in a dramatic semifinal. The Canadian used that Washington breakthrough as a springboard into the hard-court summer, and the tournament’s official site notes she is returning as the defending champion.
Eala, meanwhile, has been one of the most traveled and productive players on tour this season.
She won the Birmingham Open in June, reached the semifinals in Berlin, advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and then returned to North America for the next phase of her summer schedule. Her recent run has included a first-time doubles partnership with Venus Williams, which reached the quarterfinals at Bad Homburg before the pair bowed out there.
The Washington event will also be familiar territory for Eala, who already showed she could compete deep in the WTA 500 level against strong fields earlier this year, including notable wins over players such as Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina during her 2026 hard- and grass-court stretch. Her doubles reunion with Williams adds another layer of intrigue, since the two first teamed up in Germany and now enter DC with a proven rhythm together.
The Mubadala DC Open begins July 27 at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, and the women’s field also includes Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina.
Editor’s Note: Eala was honored as a TOFA Global Awardee in Sports in 2022 in New York after winning the US Open girls’ singles title.
