For one set, Filipina tennis star Alex Eala appeared headed for a momentous upset in her first ever appearance at Wimbledon.
But defending champion Barbora Krejčíková showed her quality in turning back the young Filipina, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, for a place in the second round after a two-hour, six-minute showdown at Centre Court on Tuesday, July 1.
It’s another historic performance for the 20-year-old Eala, who has been on a meteoric rise since a shock run to the semifinals of the Miami Open in March.
Ahead of Wimbledon, she made it to the finals of the Eastbourne Open, losing in a heartbreaker to Australian teen Maya Joint.
She showed no fear of the moment in her Wimbledon debut, shocking the Czech champion in the opening set by surging to a 5-2 advantage behind a bevy of groundstrokes.
Krejčíková did not help her cause as she struggled with her serve while also committing 19 unforced errors.
Krejčíková stayed alive by taking the lengthy eighth game that featured six deuces when Eala committed an error, but the Filipina held her serve in the next game to seize the opener.
Krejčíková turned the tables around in the second set, however, gaining better control of her serve and cutting down her errors to overwhelm Eala for a 5-0 advantage.
The Filipina won back-to-back games to stay alive, but Krejčíková took care of business to send the match to a decider.
It was virtually all Krejčíková in the third set, with the defending champion blanking Eala in the final game and firing a massive down-the-line backhand to finish off her young opponent.
Despite the loss, it was another gutsy effort from world No. 56 Eala, and Krejčíková was all praises for the Filipina after the match.
“I would like start with giving the credit to Alex … [The way] she played in the first set, she was smashing the ball, and she was cleaning the lines and all that,” said Krejčíková.
“She’s gonna come up, and she’s gonna be really good in a couple of years,” she added.
Krejčíková, who is ranked 16th in the world, has endured a difficult time since defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final last year, playing just six matches in 2025 before her Wimbledon opener on Tuesday.
“Having that opportunity that I can see my name there and that I can see the trophy.”
The 29-year-old was out of action until May after suffering a back injury and lost in the second round of the recent French Open.
Krejcikova pulled out of last week’s Eastbourne Open before the quarterfinals with a thigh problem.
But she did enough against Eala to avoid a massive upset, on a day when American third seed Jessica Pegula was bundled out by Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen was ousted by Kateřina Siniaková, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. (ABS-CBN News / Agence France-Presse)