Politics and the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte took a backseat on Tuesday as tennis star Alex Eala became the first Filipina to win a World Tennis Association title in Washington.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the country in congratulating Eala , saying her latest achievement continues to inspire young Filipinos to pursue their dreams without limits.

Eala overcame Jessica Pegula of the US who is the world's number three player, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in a game that took two days to complete as rains forced the postponement of the match. Pegula won the first set but trailed 1-2 as officials were forced to postpone the game for Monday midnight (Philippine time).

In a Facebook post, Marcos hailed Eala for once again bringing pride and honor to the country through her historic victory on the international tennis stage.

“𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗘𝗮𝗹𝗮 does it again,” President Marcos post on his official Facebook account Bongbong Marcos around 2 a.m. “The 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 now has its first 𝗪𝗧𝗔 𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻.”

Last month, Marcos presented Eala with a Presidential Citation for reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said ''in times like this, we need inspiration. And Alex gave us exactly that.''

Semator Francis Escudero, presiding officer of the impeachment trial, before starting the day's hearing said that even if people do not see eye-to-eye on some matters, they should be united in lauding Eala's victory. ''If there is a senator-judge who appears to be dozing off, he must have watched the game (this morning)'', drawing laughter.

House Speaker Faustino Dy III congratulated Eala in his social media post, saying that years of sweat and sacrifice resulted in history. PHS