Jessica Pegula has argued that tennis players have grown too accustomed to a problem another sport would never ignore: the varying quality of tennis balls.

The American, who has reached the semi-finals at the WTA 500 event in Washington, will now meet Diana Shnaider. Her run has been part of another highly reliable season, with Pegula going at least as far as the quarter-finals at eight tournaments, including four of the last five WTA 1000 events.

There have still been setbacks along the way. At the French Open, she suffered an unexpected first-round defeat to Kimberly Birrell, but she responded by reaching her first Wimbledon quarter-final before losing to compatriot Coco Gauff.

Pegula is currently world No 3 and could widen the gap to fourth-ranked Gauff if she wins the Washington title. That matters because she has only third-round points to defend at the next two North American WTA 1000 events. She is also defending a semi-final result at the US Open, scheduled from August 30 to September 13.

Even with her strong results, Pegula devoted part of her post-match press conference to the issue of ball consistency. “We’ve talked a lot about these freaking tennis balls, till the cows come home, oh my gosh,” she began.

She explained that the problem is tied to several variables, from different manufacturers and tournament locations to court surfaces, weather and changing daily conditions. “And so it’s kind of like an impossible thing to solve.”

Different tournaments use different brands of balls, with Dunlop used at the Australian Open, Wilson at the French Open and the US Open, and Slazenger at Wimbledon.

Her remarks also reflected a broader concern on the ATP side, where Daniil Medvedev has repeatedly criticised the lack of consistency between events. Speaking at this year’s Rotterdam Open, he said: “The problem is when you touch it with the racket, it does not react the same way on your shots, so how do you want us to play tennis?”

Pegula summed up the issue bluntly: “I think where you get frustrated is where you’re constantly changing, and I know at one point, the men were playing with, like, three different balls in three weeks. Like, that’s crazy. Like, you ask any other sport to kind of deal with that, and they’re like, Are you joking? Like, that wouldn’t happen.

“So it sounds silly, but it does make a big difference.”

Alex Eala continued her strong run at the Washington Open with a straight-sets victory over Leylah Fernandez, booking a place in the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 event.

The Filipina beat the Canadian 6-2, 7-6 on the tournament’s main court, sealing the match after Fernandez mounted a second-set comeback. Eala had led 5-1 before being taken to a tie-break, where she closed out the contest to claim her first win over the Canadian.

That result also delivered another piece of career history. By overcoming Fernandez, Eala recorded her first victory against a left-handed opponent. The 21-year-old, who plays left-handed herself, had previously lost to Marketa Vondrousova, Lulu Sun, and Fernandez, all of whom are left-handers.

Speaking to The Tennis Channel, Eala reflected on the challenge of facing a lefty and offered her view of the matchup.

“I think each player has their specific sets of things that are going to make it difficult for you,” said the 21-year-old to interview Brett Haber.

“And although playing against a lefty is different, it’s just another thing that you have to consider. I don’t think it’s necessarily makes it more difficult or less difficult. I think it’s just a unique characteristic of that opponent.”

The victory leaves Eala only five ranking points behind Emma Navarro in the battle for World No 27, a position that would represent a career high for the 21-year-old.

She will next face the winner of Polina Kudermetova and Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals. The draw has opened up further after Fernandez, the defending champion at the Washington Open, was knocked out, while eighth seed Navarro has also exited.

That leaves Svitolina and Naomi Osaka as the only seeds remaining in Eala’s section. Eala has already beaten Svitolina this season, in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on grass. If Osaka advances as her next opponent, it would be their first meeting on the WTA Tour.

The Washington Open runs until Sunday, 2nd August, with both the men’s and women’s finals scheduled for the closing day.

Alex Eala opened her hard-court campaign in Washington with a comeback that underlined both her resolve and the progress she has made over the past year. After a sluggish beginning, she was staring at an early exit against former world No 4 Zheng Qinwen before finding a way through in three sets.

The Filipina had last competed on grass at Wimbledon, where she produced another milestone run to the round of 16. Her return to North America began unevenly, however, as she fell a set and a break behind after being broken to love in game seven of the second set.

That was the moment the match shifted. Eala responded immediately by breaking back in game eight, again to love, then held firm before earning another break to level the contest. She carried that momentum into the decider, storming ahead 4-0 with two breaks and closing out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory at the WTA 500 event to book her place in the round of 16.

Eala was quick to credit her coach Joan Bosch, stating: “He said that I just have to keep going because if I’m there for every ball, I’ll have my chances. And I did. Like always, he’s right.”

She also pointed to the second-set break as the key passage of play. “I definitely think it helped,” she said about the break. “Maybe if I hadn’t gotten that break, who knows? Maybe it would have been too big of a gap. You never know in tennis, but that definitely helped me I think.”

Now ranked a career-high No 28 with 1,666 points, Eala will hold that position for the moment, though a deeper run could lift her further. A quarter-final appearance could push her to No 25.

Next up is a difficult test against defending champion Leylah Fernandez, who advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Magda Linette. “I think it’s going to be a very tough match for me,” Eala said during her on-court interview. “Leylah is such an amazing player and an amazing person as well.”