Published by: Francen Anne Perez
Date Published: July 22, 2025
Time Published: 1:58 PM
Alexandra Eala made history for Philippine tennis by becoming the first Filipina to compete in Wimbledon’s main draw during the Open Era, marking a significant milestone on July 3, 2025.
Eala’s 2025 season has been one for the record books; she became the first Filipina to reach a WTA final (Eastbourne Open) and the first to compete in Wimbledon’s main draw.
Carrying momentum from her strong Eastbourne Open showing, Eala started strong in her Wimbledon debut, displaying sharp instincts and fearlessness.
She overcame an early break to dominate the first set 6-3, showcasing her skills and composure.
However, Barbora Krejฤรญkovรก, the reigning French Open champion and a formidable opponent, staged a dramatic turn around in the second set, unleashing her powerful groundstrokes and precise serving to take control.
The Czech player responded well to Eala’s brief rally, breaking back to level the match.
As the match wore on, fatigue caught up with Eala in the third set, allowing Krejฤรญkovรก to seize control and secure the win after two hours and 10 minutes of intense play.
The match’s outcome was decided with Krejฤรญkovรก winning 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, a testament to Eala’s inconsistent performance.
Despite this first-round singles loss to the defending champion, Eala’s participation itself was a victory.
Reflecting on her experience, Eala said, “๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐บ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ—๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ.”
She added, “๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต,” highlighting the historical significance of her achievement.
Her performance against Krejฤรญkovรก, though ultimately a defeat, showcased her prowess.
Krejฤรญkovรก herself praised Eala’s powerful game, predicting a bright future for the young star.
“๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ, ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ธ,” said Krejฤรญkovรก after the win.
“๐๐ต’๐ด ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ, ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.” she added.
With her Wimbledon doubles journey just beginning, Eala and her partner, Eva Lys, are set to compete, further demonstrating her dedication to the sport.
REFERENCES:
Martinez, G., & Nrueda. (2025b, July 3). Alex Eala serves up historic firsts in the breakthrough 2025 season. INQUIRER USA.
https://usa.inquirer.net/174836/alex-eala-serves-up-historic-firsts-in-breakthrough-2025-season?fbclid=IwY2xjawLUwMVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHqkELVAouu44YdemaCEGia4k_k6QSnbrk5X3mWtesYtRSrlNDvUO5q5ipSs_aem_eEYQnbutrwAkxKH3kr-HcQ
Agcaoili, L. (2025, July 3). Alex Eala fulfills “childhood dream” with Wimbledon's debut. INQUIRER.
https://sports.inquirer.net/630195/alex-eala-fulfills-childhood-dream-with-wimbledon-debut
Agcaoili, L. (2025, July 3). Alex Eala impresses Barbora Krejcikova in a tough Wimbledon duel. INQUIRER.
https://sports.inquirer.net/630195/alex-eala-fulfills-childhood-dream-with-wimbledon-debut
Dioquino, D. (2025, July 3). ‘Living my dream’: Alex Eala revels in the historic Wimbledon stint. RAPPLER.
https://www.rappler.com/sports/alex-eala-revels-historic-wimbledon-stint-2025/
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