THE women’s draw at Wimbledon started with 128 players. After Saturday’s matches, only 16 remain. One of them is Alexander Eala, who joined the elite company with a straight-set win over defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Nobody thought Eala would still be around. After all, her Grand Slam record in the past three years on grass, clay or hard court, shows no exceptional achievement.
The farthest she has advanced was the second round of the US Open last year. In her other two Grand Slam appearances this year — at the Australian Open and French Open— she lost right in the first round. And in the years before, her ranking was so low, she had to battle through qualifying, most of the time unsuccessfully.
READ Eala's slow serve vexes dethroned Wimbledon champ Swiatek
There was nothing in the air to indicate that she would be around for the second week of Wimbledon, an event where the world’s best players prepare hardest to win in the most coveted of all tennis titles.
But somehow, just weeks before Wimbledon, all her preparation showed up one impressive result after another, the most stunning of which was her slew of victories, mainly on grass, revealing that this was perhaps the surface that she was most comfortable with.
She won the Birmingham Open for her second WTA 125 title, reached the second round of the Queen’s Club Championship, and at the Berlin Open two weeks ago, beat Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina, two Top 10 players, to advance to the semifinals. All on grass.
With these recent wins, she was picked by experts as one player to watch among underdogs who could upend the established order. She just lived up to the hype.
Eala now enters the fourth round of Wimbledon, which, in her career, already registers as a dream come true.
Whether she can advance further no one knows. But after beating Swiatek, 7-6 (9), 6-2, she might have transformed herself from a spoiler to something much bigger. Not a few overzealous fans have suggested that she could go all the way and take home the ultimate prize.
Such a big ask.
But in sports, miracles and upsets are the norm.
She is the talk in sports media — in print, television, and digital —carried by her performance against the formidable Swiatek.
The significance of the win is not lost on Eala, who lay briefly on her back, crying, tears flowing all the way to the post-game interview.
“Maybe for someone like Iga who has won so many Slams … or maybe someone like Serena or Venus [Williams], this achievement may seem small, but for someone who grew up in the Philippines …” she began to say.
We need not go into details, but let it be said that her resilience, scrappiness, and even fearlessness, had been evident throughout the tense match. One photo showing her hitting a return, lying parallel to the grass after slipping as she chased the ball, may have captured one of the most iconic never-say-die moments of the tournament.
Swiatek is the defending Wimbledon champion, the No. 3 seed of the tournament, a former world No. 1 with six grand slam titles, and winner of 25 WTA Tour crowns, not to forget having earnings of over $45 million in prize money at the age of 25.
After crashing from the tournament, almost outside all expectations, a new star may just have emerged from the rubble. Eala has not only announced herself as a dangerous opponent, she has upended the race for Wimbledon.
Suddenly, arguably the most coveted among titles has become an open-ended chase. Besides Swiatek, also gone are No. 2 seed Rybakina, No. 8 Svitolina, and French Open champion and No. 5 Mirra Andreeva.
Of the remaining 16 players in the women’s competition, Eala is the lowest seed at 29th. Two unseeded players have survived, while four of the Top 10 seeds remain in contention, led by No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 4 Jessica Pegula, No. 7 Coco Gauff, and No. 10 Karolína Muchová.
Swaying, screaming devotees
Whatever happens next, Eala has already become a serious contender, a rising player with screaming, swaying, dancing devotees, unseen in the annals of the sport, reason to keep rooting for her.
Unfortunately, their ranks were thin during her match with Swiatek because it was played at the hallowed Centre Court, where most seats are already allocated way before a match.
But give it to Eala. How many players have played on Centre Court against a defending champion and won? Not many. How many Filipino female competitors have played on Centre Court? None.
Whether Eala will again play on Centre Court is something her devotees await with her round-of-16 match against the 13th-seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who in 2024 was a finalist here.
Eala has not reached even a fraction of tennis greatness. But at the rate she is performing, carrying her hopes and those of her countrymen, these feats may soon add up to something we have not seen in our lifetime.
To this we say: Go, Alex, go!
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