Alex Eala Kicks Off Wimbledon Campaign vs Defending Champion

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After falling short in her bid for a golden trophy during the recently concluded Lexus Eastbourne Open, Alex Eala will now be redirecting her focus in the upcoming Wimbledon Grand Slam event set to begin today, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.

Awaiting her in her first match in the main draw is Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, a former world No. 2 WTA player of the world and the defending champion of the most prestigious grass surface Grand Slam tournament.

Krejcikova bagged her maiden Wimbledon championship title last year after outdueling Jasmine Paolini in three sets- 6.2, 2.6, 6.4- and pulled off one of the most flawless title runs in the history of the Grand Slam event.

However, the 20-year-old Filipina is also fresh off a convincing run during the Eastbourne Open, repeating over former Grand Slam queen Jelena Ostapenko while also taking down Dayana Yastremska and Varvara Gracheva to reach the grand final round.

Although Eala lost against Maya Joint in the finale, the young Filipina netter still earned the respect of thousands of tennis fans after pushing the champion to her limits.

The championship match reached the tiebreaker decider in the third, where Joint completed the come-from-behind victory to seal the deal and bring home the bacon, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6.

Eala and her coaching staff at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy immediately began their light workouts after her loss, an indication of the young ace’s determination to get back on track and revive her hopes in Wimbledon.

This will be a tough path to walk on, as all the WTA top players will now be gracing the Grand Slam event and seek to reign supreme in the bright green colors of the grass surface.

The Eala-Krejcikova first-round duel will take place today, at 6 PM. Filipino tennis fans, tune in and show support for the first-ever Filipina who has a chance to claim a Grand Slam title on grass!