As Alexandra Eala pursues her dream on her dream court in London, her proud country dreams with her.
The tennis ace showed no sign of halting her historic streak of firsts on Saturday, July 4, becoming the first Filipino player to win at the prestigious Wimbledon Centre Court and dethroning the reigning champion, Iga Światek of Poland, in straight sets, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2.
The third-round win was a full-circle moment for the 21-year-old lefty. She stepped onto the same venue last year, but bowed to then defending champion Barbora Krejčíková in the first round.
“Being able to play here on Centre Court for the second year in a row, it’s amazing for me to be able to do that and to have these intense moments and this level of competition in essentially the best stage in the world for tennis,” Eala said in a post-match interview.
“I was in a similar position last year and I think I was able to learn from that, and I was able to go into this match with an improved mindset,” she said.
Eala has yet another opportunity to make history in her Wimbledon campaign as she stands a win away from reaching the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam. The feat has only been achieved once by a Filipino—the tennis legend Felicisimo Ampon in the 1952 and 1953 French Championships (now known as the French Open).
Against all odds
Saturday’s game was the third face-off between Eala and Światek and their first clash on grass at Wimbledon Centre Court. The Filipino sensation had the odds stacked against her when dealing with multiple Grand Slam titleholder and World No. 3 Światek. But she was a match for those odds.
Eala took an early commanding lead in the opening set, eventually reaching 40-30 set point at 5-3. Światek managed to bring the set back to level at 5-5 and later forced the tiebreak at 6-6.
The Filipino quickly surged into a 5-2 advantage in the first-to-7 tiebreak, but the Pole rallied straight to set point at 5-6 off of four successive points. On the verge of a crushing upset, Eala displayed incredible composure as she held four set points en route to clinching the nail-biting opener at 11-9.
Riding high on her first-set heroics, Eala wasted no time in mounting yet another big lead over the 25-year-old Światek with four straight games, 4-0. Światek snapped out of her four-game skid, holding serve in Game 5 and breaking Eala’s on the next game to shave the lead, 4-2.
Just as Światek was getting back into the match, Eala shut her down on the seventh game after breaking her serve to move 5-2.
Needing to hold her serve to notch one of the biggest wins of her career, the Filipino showed incredible poise in denying four of Światek’s break-point opportunities and eventually completed one of the biggest upsets at this year’s Wimbledon.
“This is one of the biggest matches of my life, for sure,” the young star declared. “How many times have I dreamed of opportunities like this? To win a first set 11-9. So when I have my opportunity, I have to take it.”
She added: “I worked super hard to get here and I’m taking it. If I have it, I have the chance, I’m taking it.”
The head-to-head score between the two champions now stands at 2-1 in favor of Eala.
Heartbreaks
Eala memorably took the tennis world by storm by defeating then World No. 2 Światek in straight sets at last year’s Miami Open, where she went all the way into the semifinals. Światek quickly evened the score a month later at the Madrid Open after forcing a deciding third set and completing her revenge.
Before the outstanding win at Centre Court, Eala came off of one of the most satisfying wins of her career as she avenged her first ever Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) final heartbreak over Australia’s Maya Joint.
The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate exacted sweet revenge over the Aussie in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 thriller in the second round of Wimbledon Championships at Court 3 of the All England Club on Thursday, July 2.
The two previously duked it out on the Lexus Eastbourne Open 2025 Final where Joint spoiled Eala’s supposed first WTA title in a three-set dogfight that ended in a tiebreak.
Eala’s comeback win over Joint has also put her in the history books as the first Filipino to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era.
“I really appreciate that I’m able to share this with the nation, but I think, first and foremost, it makes me super proud because of the work that I’ve put in,” Eala said shortly after yet another historic feat—becoming the first Filipino to win a match in Wimbledon in the Open Era with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa.
Next stop
As the freight train that is Eala continues to travel deeper into her Wimbledon campaign, her next opponent should be on the lookout.
She will face World No. 17 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in a rematch in the Round of 16 on Monday, July 6. This will be only the second time they face each other and their first time meeting on grass after their previous match in the Round of 32 of the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships last February.
Eala pulled off an upset win over the Italian in straight sets of 6-1, 7-6 (5) in which she managed to reach the quarterfinals, where Coco Gauff cut her outstanding campaign short.
Asked about her upcoming rematch in the grassy court of Wimbledon, Alex Eala had nothing but praise for the Italian and vowed to prepare her best.
“It was not an easy match in Dubai for me and it will not be an easy match here either,” she said. “But then again, every match is a different story. So, I’m gonna do my best to prepare for that one and focus all my energy in trying to improve and do better.” CS
Earl Almazora, a fourth-year journalism student at the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication, is an intern at CoverStory.ph.
