Queen slayer
She dug for inspiration wherever she could—from as far back as the memory of her early tennis years to the very moment she stood at the All England Club’s Centre Court, surrounded by the embrace of a supportive crowd that had just cheered her through a tense opening set.
And she found enough of it to push her on to one more round.
Alex Eala dumped defending champion Iga Swiatek out of Wimbledon on Saturday, her 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 victory setting the Filipino star up for another date with history.
“It’s difficult to describe I’m in the second week of a Slam and it’s incredible for me,” said Eala.
She is in the tournament’s Last 16—already a milestone for female Filipino aces. And with a win against former Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini on Monday, she will become the first Filipino, male or female, to reach the Grand Slam quarterfinals after Felicisimo Ampon pulled off the feat in the 1953 French Open.
Eala was emotional during the post-match interview, using an anecdote of how she started as a little girl “with chubby cheeks” to put her latest win in context.
“Maybe for someone like Iga, who has won so many Slams, or maybe for someone like Serena and Venus (the Williams sisters), this achievement may be small,” Eala said.
“But for someone from the Philippines … I went to train with my brother and my grandfather every day after school with my ruffled socks, my light-up shoes and my chubby cheeks. To [that little girl], this means everything.”
But even then, she made one thing clear.
“I may be emotional right now, but I’m not satisfied yet,” the 21-year-old Eala said.
Meanwhile, it was six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek’s earliest exit from a major tournament since another third-round defeat, to Yulia Putintseva, also at Wimbledon two years ago.
Eala earlier became the first player from the Philippines to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event in the Open era by defeating Maya Joint on Thursday.
But the 29th seed was not overawed by taking on the British Slam’s reigning queen Swiatek, notching her second win in three meetings with the Polish third seed.
The left-hander, who had only won one match at a Slam before this week, had enjoyed raucous support from her Filipino fans on the outside courts at the All England Club in the first two rounds, but again impressed in a far less partisan atmosphere on Centre Court against Swiatek.
“It’s incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on and knowing that we’re all in this together,” Eala said.
The 25-year-old Swiatek failed to bounce back from a disappointing last-16 defeat at the French Open, where she is a four-time winner.
She made 44 unforced errors as she struggled to regroup after missing two sets points in a first-set tiebreak.
“When I get opportunities like this, winning the first set [tiebreak], 11-9, I have to take it,” Eala said. —WITH REPORTS FROM AFP AND INQUIRER SPORTS
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