Alex Eala barges into Wimbledon third round after thrilling win over Maya Joint

July 3 ------ Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala is through to the third round of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships after a 3-6 6-2 6-0 thriller against Australia’s Maya Joint. Eala also avenged her heartbreaking Eastbourne Open final loss to Joint in 2025.

The 20-year-old Joint, currently ranked world No. 87, came out swinging from the start. She broke Eala in the very first game with aggressive, well-placed hitting to lead 1-0. Eala found her footing quickly, firing two forehand winners to break back and level at 1-1 before Joint moved ahead 2-1.

The Australian continued to strike the ball cleanly, holding comfortably to extend her lead to 3-1. Joint then had a chance to go up 4-1 but made three consecutive errors to hand Eala a crucial hold. Down 3-2, Eala then saved two set points at deuce with two return errors from Joint, pushing the game back level. But Joint strung together two straight points, finishing with a passing shot to take the first set, 6-3.

The second set was a different story. Joint held her opening service game to lead 1-0. At 15-30, Eala turned it around with 2 consecutive aces. Her serves reached 105 and 107 mph to level at 1-1. From there, two return errors from Joint at deuce gifted Eala a 3-1 lead, and the Filipino never looked back.

The 29th-seeded Pinay consistently forced errors to break again and surge to 5-2 before closing out the set at 6-2 with a brilliant counter-drop shot off Joint’s own drop shot. The third set saw long games but Eala showed her maturity and tenacity, grinding it 6-0. Eala was emotional after the win and went around the court thanking the Filipino crowd.

Eala will face Wimbledon women's singles defending champion Iga Swiatek in the next round.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com