Alexandra Eala of the Philippines celebrates profitable the second spherical ladies’s singles match towards Maya Joint of Australia on the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 2, 2026.(AP Photograph/Kin Cheung)
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala continues to play her finest tennis but, making historical past with a breakthrough third-round look at Wimbledon.
Eala crawled her manner again from a troublesome first-set loss to beat Maya Joint of Australia with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win of their second-round duel on Thursday night time (Philippine time).
The Filipino tennis ace needed to break by six deuces in each the primary and third video games of the deciding set to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
Eala continued to dominate the subsequent two video games, particularly the fifth, the place she blanked Joint to maneuver inside a recreation of the match, 5-0.
The satisfaction of the Philippines accomplished the shutout, denying Joint a single recreation regardless of the Australian taking a 40-30 lead within the ultimate recreation. Joint dedicated expensive errors, permitting Eala to e-book her first third-round look in a Grand Slam.
She is the one participant from the nation to advance this far in any Grand Slam event within the Open period.
Alexandra Eala of the Philippines returns the ball through the second spherical ladies’s singles match towards Maya Joint of Australia on the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 2, 2026.(AP Photograph/Kin Cheung)
“I actually needed to dig deep, particularly after that first set. Maya got here out on fireplace, she got here out prepared, and I used to be anticipating a extremely good match, in fact, with competed inside some excellent situations earlier than, so I used to be ready for match,” stated Eala.
“She clearly is coming off a tremendous win. I watched it, and I believe she performed rather well and dealt with herself rather well in that scenario. So, congratulations to Maya. Realizing that, I actually needed to dig deep.”
Eala battles defending champion Iga Swiatek in Spherical 3 on Saturday.
Regardless of a torpid first set, Eala stayed inside placing distance, trailing 4-3 earlier than Joint regained management within the eighth recreation to maneuver inside a recreation of the opener. The Filipino leveled the ninth recreation at deuce, however her subsequent forehand sailed lengthy earlier than Joint capitalized on an open court docket to take the set.
The Rafa Nadal Academy graduate exacted a candy revenge on the 20-year-old Joint after a heartbreaking three-set loss within the 2025 Eastbourne Open ultimate.
“It’s humorous. We had an insane match right here at Eastbourne, and I misplaced, and it hit me fairly arduous. I cried loads, and I don’t assume I used to be in a position to watch these highlights for a few months. I believe I improved loads on this previous 12 months, and I’m glad that I’m in a position to look again at that loss, and I’m in a position to smile. Further motivation to win for certain,” Eala stated.
Eala continued to thrive on the grass courts, kicking off her second Wimbledon marketing campaign with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Renata Zarazua of Mexico.
Seeded in a Grand Slam competitors for the primary time at twenty ninth, Eala is making a deeper run since her breakthrough win within the US Open final 12 months.
Eala can also be scheduled to compete within the doubles event with Nikola Bartunkova towards Jeļena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin.
