Eala dismisses defending champion Swiatek

LONDON Alexandra Eala didn't have the option of playing on grass courts growing up in the Philippines.

- KEN MAGUIRE

Instead, she used one that also doubled as a basketball court.

"There would be the basketball hoops, so I couldn't really step back a lot because then I would hit the basketball hoop," Eala said.

The 21-year-old Eala found Centre Court at Wimbledon a bit more accommodating Saturday when she beat defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6 (9), 6-2 in the third round at the grasscourt major and made history in the process.

Eala is the first Filipino player, male or female, to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament.

The left-handed Eala dropped to her knees and rolled onto her back after hitting a forehand winner on her third match point.

"It's incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on and knowing that we're all in this together," she said in an on-court interview as she looked around at the Philippines flags.

"This goes out to them, this goes out to my family, this goes out to all the little girls with ruffled socks and chubby cheeks. It means the world," said the 29th-seeded Eala, who saved two set points in the first-set tiebreaker.

The third-seeded Swiatek earned her first Wimbledon title a year ago when she beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

"I felt like Alexandra was more brave in important moments," Swiatek said. "In the tiebreak we both had many chances to close the set earlier, and it didn't go my way." Eala, who has trained in Mallorca at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy, gained worldwide support last year on her breakthrough run to the Miami Open semifinals, which included an upset of Swiatek.