Alexandra Eala’s Wimbledon run might have been cut short, but the dream appears to burn brighter than ever—both hers and the nation behind her.
After a week of gutsy wins and historic firsts in her magical major stint, the Filipino tennis star bowed to 13th seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in a gutting fourth-round three-set defeat, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, on Monday, July 6, at a packed Centre Court in London.
If not for the spoiler of a loss, Eala would have joined Filipino tennis legend Felicisimo Ampon as the only Filipino player to have reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament (before and during the Open Era)—a feat that has stood untouched for 73 years. It is also still the farthest a Filipino has gone in Grand Slam history.
For now, Eala still proudly boasts a handful of career milestones off of this fortnight alone.
Her first-round win over Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa marked her as the first Filipino to ever win a singles match in Wimbledon. She followed this by charging into the third round after exacting revenge against Australia’s Maya Joint in the second round.
Moreover, her stunning upset over reigning Wimbledon titlist Iga Światek of Poland etched her name in history as the first Filipino to win at Centre Court and to advance to the second week of a Grand Slam.
These achievements, however, did not make Monday’s heartbreak sting less.
First-serve faults
The highly anticipated match displayed the two sides of the Eala coin that her fans and the tennis world have now grown accustomed to. On one side, there was the immense show of heart and fighting spirit that refuses to relent at all times. On the other was the gaping hole in Eala’s play that continues to haunt her—her serve.
All throughout the match, Eala struggled in utilizing her first serve and was forced to rely on her weak second serve that got her recognized as one of the slowest servers in the whole tournament. Having to rely on her slow serve meant that the Rafa Nadal Academy graduate often found herself on the defensive end with Paolini putting pressure with her powerful returns.
This difference in the quality of service was most evident in the opening set, which saw Eala only making 50% of her first serves while Paolini delivered 68%. With such an advantage on the pace of the game, the Italian quickly cruised to a comfortable 1-4 margin after breaking the Filipino’s serve on the fourth game and a quick hold on the fifth.
After managing to answer back on the sixth, a gritty Eala was on the verge of trimming the lead to just one off of a comeback rally on the seventh to force deuce and advantage. Now at a pivotal break point, Eala’s supposed backhand service return winner crashed hard into the net to turn the tide for Paolini for a 2-5 lead.
Eala’s newfound momentum, however, did not cease. She made quick work in holding her serve and finally breaking Paolini’s to close the gap by just 1, 4-5. Having the opportunity to level the game, Eala committed two consecutive crucial errors at 30-30, which sealed the opener for the Italian, 4-6, in 51 minutes of play.
Fighting back
If there’s one iconic characteristic of Eala’s tennis, it would definitely be her ability to hit and fight back—much like her returns. With her back against the wall and the pressure steadily mounting in the second set, she did not falter; she thrived.
As both players refused to break away from each other all the way to a 2-3 Paolini lead, Eala surged ahead with three straight games to stand just a game away from forcing a decider, 5-3.
Paolini then pulled closer by just one after a strong ninth game service hold, 5-4. But a fiery Eala broke through in Game 10 with a crucial 40-15 point in a nail-biting rally to clinch the hard-fought second set win after another 51 minutes of tennis.
Now left with just one set to duke it all out, the decider saw an Eala riding high off a valiant second set reply, and a Paolini that had no plans of letting the game slip away.
With the stakes rising and the pressure mounting with every stroke, neither of the quarterfinal hopefuls gave an inch to their opponent after exchanging holds of their own well into a 3-3 deadlock.
A quick service hold from Paolini saw Eala trying to level things in the eighth game. Up 40-30 off of a 13-shot rally, Eala squandered her advantage in twin errors plus a gut-wrenching double fault to hand the Italian the only break point of the frame, 3-5.
The cracks continued to show in the ninth game, as the Filipino lost grip of a 30-love advantage after letting out a trio of errors that spelled the end of her Wimbledon fairy-tale run.
Admiration and applause
Eala bid farewell to the Centre Court crowd that showered her with admiration and applause, displaying her usual deep appreciation for the immense support she’s been receiving.
“I gave everything that I could, did everything that I could do, so I’m proud of that. I have to be proud of what I’ve achieved this week. I’m leaving with positive thoughts,” she said.
“There are so many positives. One I think is how I’ve handled pressure. Of course, the more you want to win, the pressure goes along with that. I’m happy how I faced it head on. I think I kept cool when I needed to, controlled my emotions and overall performed the best that I could that day.”
Aside from the numerous feats that she earned in her deepest career Grand Slam campaign, Eala took home £300,000 or roughly ₱24 million for her Round of 16 exit—her biggest single tournament payday to date.
As the 21-year-old finished an undoubtedly successful grass-court season, highlighted by a title in the WTA 125 Birmingham Classic and a semifinal run in the WTA 500 Berlin Tennis Open, she now looks to return to the very surface which shot her straight into stardom—the hardcourt.
Eala proved with this Wimbledon run that she has now earned her spot among the top players of the tour as a Grand Slam staple. With one of her most iconic tournament runs being on the hardcourts of the Miami Open last year, the tennis world excitingly awaits what kind of breakthrough the Filipino sensation has in store for everyone come this year’s US Open Grand Slam. CS
Read more: Alex Eala keeps her Wimbledon dream run alive
Earl Almazora, a fourth-year journalism student at the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication, is an intern of CoverStory.ph.
