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Alex Eala advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time with a three-set victory over Maya Joint as the Filipino recovered from a heartbreaking loss to the Australian in her first WTA Tour final.
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala avenged one of the heartbreaking defeats of his career with one of his sweetest victories against the same opponent.
Eala qualified for the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Australia’s Maya Joint in the 64th round of the Wimbledon Championships on Court 3 of the All England Club on Thursday, July 2.
The come-from-behind victory allowed Eala to redeem herself after painfully missing out on her first WTA Tour title following a three-set loss to Joint in the final of the tournament. 2025 Eastbourne Open.
“It touched me a lot. I cried a lot, and I think I couldn’t watch those important films for several months. I’m very happy. I think I improved a lot this past year, and I’m happy that I can look back at that loss and I can smile,” said Eala.
The Eastbourne Open final saw Eala collect four championship points while Joint took the WTA 250 title with a narrow victory of 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10).
But Eala denied a repeat of that defeat by dominating the second half of Thursday’s match that took 1 hour and 57 minutes to complete, winning all of the last nine games to knock out No. 87 Australia to reach the 32nd place.
The turning point of the match came in the third game of the deciding set, with Joint serving and almost reducing his deficit to 1-2 as he gained advantage after five deuces, only to lose his nerve with three consecutive errors.
Together he dropped back-to-back shots into the net, then hit another that went wide, paving the way for Eala to take a 3-0 lead.
Eala cruised from there as she won the next three games, including a break at love in the fifth game, as she set up a showdown with defending champion and six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek in the next round.
“I have been working very hard. My team has been working very hard. I feel like it is paying off. This victory means a lot,” said Eala.
Ranked 32nd in the world and up from 29th, Eala came out on top to knock out a confident Mizili who was fresh off a thrilling three-set win over 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the previous round.
The composure was evident, with Joint making quick work of Eala in the first set which lasted just 34 minutes.
Eala, however, changed the situation as he gave three games in a row and grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second set and three more in a row after Joint went from 2-3 to force a referee.
“Obviously he’s coming off an amazing win. I think he played really well and handled the situation well,” Eala said. “Knowing that, I had to dig a lot.”
With the victory, Eala clinched her campaign in the 2025 US Open, where she became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam singles match in the Open era when she stunned Denmark’s Clara Tauson in the opening round before losing her next match to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa. – Rappler.com
