Hitting the brakes
Alex Eala fought tooth-and-nail to keep her magical Wimbledon run going Monday night, only for an error-filled third set to do the hard-fighting Filipino in as she took a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss at the hands of the wily Jasmine Paolini of Italy in a tense fourth-round match on Center Court.
“I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and so lucky to get the win,” the 30-year-old Paolini said before addressing men’s all-time great Roger Federer, who watched the match from the royal box.
“I just needed to stay focused and don’t think about him (Federer) being here… It’s an amazing feeling to be here right now with the win.”
This will be the first Grand Slam quarterfinal stint in two years for Paolini, the losing finalist here in 2024 to Barbora Krejcikova. The win is also a confirmation of the great turnaround in form for Paolini, who has basically struggled this season.
Bum start
The Italian, also the French Open runner-up in 2024, opened the tournament with a 6-0 loss in the first set to qualifier Robin Montgomery of the United States. She has dropped just one set since, that one against the Filipino wunderkind.
“After the first set in the first round I was like ‘Okay, it can only go better’ … point by point, game by game, I was feeling better,” Paolini said.
The 21-year-old Eala had become the first woman from the Philippines to reach the third and fourth rounds of a Slam, but despite threatening a comeback in the second set, could not get the better of the wily Paolini.
Vital break
Paolini clinched a nip-and-tuck opening set with a break, having failed to serve it out in the previous game.
After the players traded early breaks in the second set, the 29th-seeded Eala broke for a 4-3 lead and then held from 0-40 down in the next game.
The left-hander managed to close it out to force a decider.
The vital moment of a nervy third set came when Paolini broke in the eighth game, before serving it out confidently despite falling 0-30 down as a long Eala forehand put gave the Italian match point.
Eala then sealed her doom with a double fisted backhand that went just a tad wide.
The match was widely applauded and Eala got an ovation on her way out of the court. She held up the heart symbol she made with both hands, appreciating the support she has gotten from the All-England Club fans.
Ukrainian 12th seed Marta Kostyuk will be Paolini’s quarterfinals foe after she scored a 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Ashlyn Krueger of the United States in an earlier match.
A semifinalist in the French Open last month—by far her best performance in a Grand Slam event—Kostyuk roared back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set before pulling out the win.
“Unbelievable. I still cannot process that this is happening,” Kostyuk said in the post-match interview.
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