Jasmine Paolini ends Alex Eala’s 2026 Wimbledon campaign

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

While the final score didn’t fall in Alex Eala’s favor, the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club showed that Filipinos belong and that they are world-class.

On July 6, 2026, Eala’s Wimbledon campaign ended with a 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 loss to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini during the Grand Slam tournament’s Round of 16.

Fresh off dethroning Iga Swiatek in the third round, Eala failed to sustain her momentum, falling to the Italian’s baseline power and net aggressiveness across three thrilling sets.

Paolini got off to a convincing start in the opener, breaking Eala in the third game of the set, followed by a service hold to establish a commanding 4-1 advantage.

However, the 21-year-old Filipina ace roared back, giving Paolini a dose of her own medicine with a break point in the eighth game of the set to pull within one, 5-4.

With the chance to hold serve and tie things up at 5-all, Eala had other plans, breaking back in the ninth game of the set to officially move a set away from clinching a Wimbledon quarterfinal berth.

The first-set battle was a tactical chess match highlighted by Paolini’s variety, forcing Eala on the back foot with her tremendous topspin forehand returns and unexpected net attacks.

After Eala threw a sloppy return on her third and fourth returns, Paolini immediately rushed to the net, punishing the Filipina with on-point volleys to close out the first set on a high note.

Just when Paolini thought that she could stick with the same game plan in the second set, Eala adjusted well and put more emphasis on throwing deep slices that caught the Italian off guard several times.

Both netters traded service holds and early breaks for a 3-all deadlock, but Eala finally scored the momentum-stealing break in the sixth game of the set and never looked back.

Aside from firing more unpredictable returns, Eala also rediscovered her drop shot stroke, which kissed the line three times during the intense second-set resurgence.

The third set started with an early trade-off, but Eala found an opening in the fourth game of the set, scoring two quick points to race to a 30-0 lead.

Despite trailing by two points, Paolini flipped the script with four consecutive winners to erase the deficit, holding serve to go up 3-2.

Paolini showed tremendous improvement in her service accuracy as the third set progressed, increasing her first-service efficiency from 50% to 94%, which proved to be the difference-maker in the decider.

The much-needed break point came in the seventh game of the set, with Paolini prevailing in a grueling deuce war, en route to a service hold that concluded the Round of 16 clash in two hours and 21 minutes.

Paolini wrapped up the huge win with 101 total points won, including two service aces, four break points, and 37 on the return.

“It was a tough battle,” Paolini said during the post-game press conference.

“I’m happy that I made it through. It was a good match. Today, I had good energy and I was there every point. She’s playing really well (Eala) and she has a lot of personality on the court. I knew that I had to play my best tennis.”

With the win, Paolini arranged a quarterfinal matchup against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who earlier took down Ashlyn Krueger to advance to the quarterfinal round.