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Alex Eala goes up against reigning champion and world No. 17 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the opening round of Wimbledon
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala faces a tall order in her Wimbledon main draw debut.
Eala will go up against reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the opening round of the third Grand Slam of the year set to begin on June 30 in London.
Seeded 17th, Krejcikova returns to Wimbledon with hopes of defending the title she won last year against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
The 29-year-old Krejcikova beat Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, then outlasted Paolini, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, in the finale.
Achieving a career-high ranking No. 2 in 2022, Krejcikova is currently ranked No. 17 in the world and owns two Grand Slam crowns as she also ruled the 2021 French Open.
While Krejcikova is a Wimbledon veteran, having reached at least the third round thrice over the last four years, Eala makes her first appearance in the main draw of the oldest tennis tournament in the world.
The 20-year-old Eala nearly barged into the main draw last year but fell to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun in the third round of the qualifiers.
But Eala has made huge strides since, showing promise on the grass court by advancing to the Eastbourne Open final with a gritty 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva in the semifinals on Friday, June 27.
It could have been Eala and Krejcikova in the semifinals, but the Czech withdrew from her quarterfinal clash against Gracheva due to a right thigh issue.
Eala, the first Filipina to reach a WTA final, will face Australia’s Maya Joint in the championship round on Saturday, June 28.
A victory over Joint bodes well for Eala as she seeks to pull off a massive upset over Krejcikova.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) enters Wimbledon as the top seed followed by newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff (USA), Jessica Pegula (USA), Paolini, and Zheng Qinwen (China). – Rappler.com
