I've been a tennis fan for a really long time now. And for the longest time, there weren't any Filipinos at the top echelon of this sport. That is, until Alex Eala. She achieved a lot of great success earlier this year, beating four top 10 players - Jasmine Paolini, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Elena Svitolina - leading up to this year's Wimbledon. In fact, it was just in the previous tournament - the Berlin Open - that Alex beat both #2 Rybakina and #6 Svitolina back-to-back en route to the semifinals. As if that wasn't enough, she also beat Donna Vekic in the round of 32. While Vekic was not seeded at that tournament, she did win the Olympic silver medal in 2024, the same year she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, so she was a very strong and skillful player. Eala beating all three players consecutively and in straight sets shows just how far she has come in her young career.
Her success in Berlin put her in everyone's radar at the start of Wimbledon and everyone in the Philippines started to dream of what Alex could achieve in the third Grand Slam event of the year. After all, she seems to play well on grass and she has a pretty good record against top 10 players.
And what a Wimbledon it turned out for her. She defeated Renata Zarazúa, Maya Joint, and defending champion and #3 seed Iga Swiatek to reach the fourth round, losing to ex-Wimbledon finalist Jasime Paolini in a hard-fought three-setter. This breakthrough allowed Alex set a handful of tennis Open era records at the All England Club. First, she became the first Filipino seeded at a Grand Slam event. Second, she became the first Filipino in the Open era to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam event. (Felicismo Ampon reached the quarterfinals of the French Open twice, in 1952 and 1953, prior to the Open era which started in April 1968.) Third, she also became the first Filipino to defeat a reigning Wimbledon champion. That is just awesome!
While Alex may not have won Wimbledon, this was a truly great result for her. Prior to this, the deepest run she had made a major was the second round. she also moves up to world #28. Awesome! Hopefully, Alex can keep achieving great things and maybe even go higher in the rankings. Whatever the future holds for her, she really has made history for Philippine tennis.
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