Courtesy: Wimbledon/ Facebook
Sweet revenge.
Alex Eala pulled off a come-from-behind victory over Maya Joint, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 and advance to the Round of 32 of the Wimbledon.
Bucking an opening set hiccup, the 21-year-old Filipina caught things up in the second and posted a 3-2 lead. She then swept the next three games to force a decider.
In the third frame, Eala was even more unstoppable as she prevented Joint from scoring even a single game.
“I really had to dig deep, especially after that first set,” she said in the postgame interview. “Maya came out on fire, she came out ready and I was expecting a really good match. She is obviously coming off an amazing win. I watched it and she played really well and handled herself really well in that situation.”
Eala, the 29th seed of the tournament, recalled her heartbreaking loss to the Australian player when they first met in the 2025 Eastbourne Open final.
“It hit me quite hard,” she said.
“I cried a lot and I don’t think I was able to watch those highlights for a couple of months. So, I’m really happy. I think I improved a lot in this past year and I’m happy that I’m able to look back at that loss and I’m able to smile,” she added.
Eala also wrote another history being the first Filipino to play in the third round of a Grand Slam event in the Open Era of tennis.
Up next for the world No. 32 is her much-awaited third showdown against defending champion and world no. 2 Iga Swiatek.
They will vie for a Round of 16 ticket on Saturday, July 4.
Eala first defeated the Polish superstar in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Miami Open before Swiatek bounced back against the Filipina player in the Round of 64 of the Madrid Open, which also took place last year.
Meanwhile, Eala and her partner Nikola Bartunkova were immediately eliminated from the women’s doubles event after losing to the pair of Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin in the first round, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6.
About the Author
