by Julian Bothamley and Dylan Bothamley
Alex Eala has had a breakout year on the highest stage in professional tennis.
Since turning professional, the prodigy from Quezon City has steadily climbed the WTA rankings. This year at Wimbledon, years of preparation came together.
After opening Wimbledon with a win over World No. 75 Renata Zarazúa, Eala defeated World No. 28 Maya Joint in the second round. But it was her third match, against World No. 3 and defending Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek, that caught the world’s attention.
Eala won a grueling first set after dueling the defending champion to 9-9 in the tiebreak before producing two points in succession to close out the 7-6 win.
Fittingly, Eala won the second set not with an error from the World No. 3, but by taking the initiative. On her third match point, Eala’s serve forced Świątek to the backhand near the sideline.
Świątek’s cross-court return landed just short of the baseline, but Eala took advantage of impeccable positioning and sent a deep cross-court forehand return that nearly landed on Świątek’s baseline, forcing the defending champion to remain in deep positioning.
Świątek’s second cross-court return landed just past the service line, setting up Eala for a clean look at the entire court. Świątek remained shaded to the backhand side of the court, leaving wide open space for Eala to attempt a power shot to Świątek’s forehand side for the win.
But Eala chose to attack with precision, uncorking a heavy topspin forehand that dove over the net, landing on the edge of the service box just inside the opposite sideline and kicked away from Świątek.
Eala ended the match with a winner that the defending champion could only watch sail past. It was perfect tennis.
The win was recognized as one of the tournament’s defining upsets. It was the kind of victory that can change how a player is viewed.
Eala would push World No. 13 Jasmine Paolini to three sets before her historic run finally came to an end.
Tennis is a sport with relatively little randomness compared with many other major sports. That is why victories over the sport’s elite carry so much predictive value.
If Wimbledon left room to wonder whether Eala had simply enjoyed a magical fortnight, her play at the DC Open in July has begun to answer that question.
She opened the tournament by rallying past Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen before following it with another statement victory over defending champion Leylah Fernandez to reach the quarterfinals.
In the span of a month, Eala has now defeated the defending champions at both Wimbledon and Washington.
On August 3, Eala became the first Filipina to win a WTA 500 event with her victory against Jessica Pegula at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington. This is Eala’s first WTA title which pushed her up in the wold rankings at the top 20.
For the Philippines, Eala’s success extends beyond a single tournament. Her historic Wimbledon run opened a new chapter for Philippine tennis, while her continued success in Washington suggests that breakthrough was not a fluke, but the emergence of a genuine contender.
Filipino sports fans now have good reason to believe that even bigger moments may still lie ahead.
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