Eala ousts defending champion Swiatek at Wimbledon

Defending champion ousted on Centre Court

Defending Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek was eliminated in the third round on Saturday, falling 7-6(11-9), 6-2 to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines on Centre Court, according to The New York Times and the Times of India. The result ended Świątek’s title defense and, with the tour rankings set to update the following Monday, pushed the six-time Grand Slam champion out of the world’s top 10 for the first time since May 2021, The New York Times reported.

Eala, 21 and seeded 29th at a Grand Slam for the first time, struck 24 winners and converted her third match point to seal the result, according to the Times of India. The win made her the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a major, the BBC reported.

A first set defined by missed chances

According to The New York Times, the first set lasted 84 minutes and hinged on Świątek’s inability to convert two set points in the tiebreak, including a forehand after she had constructed the point in her preferred style. The Times of India reported that Świątek had already fended off one set point against her in the ninth game and broken back when Eala served for the set in the 10th, before the tiebreak produced an extended exchange of chances. Eala needed three set points to close it out, per the Times of India.

The New York Times noted that Świątek finished the opening set with 27 unforced errors against 20 winners and missed three backhand returns in the tiebreak that would normally be routine for her. At several key moments she opted for drive volleys and returned the ball straight to Eala rather than into open court. The New York Times reported that Świątek left the court at the end of the set visibly angry with herself and her team, and that her coach Francisco Roig appeared to tell her, “she is not beating you, you are losing.”

Eala’s left-handed angles take control

The Times of India reported that Eala arrived at Wimbledon with 11 grass-court wins this summer, and her game on the surface was evident throughout the match. Her left-handed forehand repeatedly pulled Świątek out of position, and after taking the first set Eala raced to a 4-0 lead in the second, per the Times of India. The New York Times credited Eala’s effectiveness on return, noting that she stepped inside the baseline to attack Świątek’s second serve and was rewarded with the freedom to run around her backhand and hit inside-in forehands.

Świątek acknowledged after the match that she struggled with the pace of Eala’s second serve, which averaged 123 kmph but still won 21 of 38 points behind it, the Times of India reported. “She served slow, you need to step in,” Świątek said, according to the Times of India. “The court becomes short suddenly, I feel like I need to really play short. But then many balls also just stayed after the bounce, I didn’t really adjust to them well.”

A coaching change and a difficult season

According to The New York Times, Świątek replaced coach Wim Fissette with Francisco Roig ahead of the clay-court season in an effort to rediscover what the paper described as her “controlled aggressiveness.” The New York Times noted that, despite flashes of that form, the result continued a difficult year. The paper observed that “spiral[ing] when things start to go badly has been a recurring theme” for Świątek this season and questioned whether her serve, described as a continuing weakness, had again been exposed. In the second set she went down 4-0 before briefly fighting back to 4-2, only for two double faults and a missed volley to hand the initiative back to Eala, The New York Times reported.

Eala’s path to Centre Court

The New York Times noted that Eala first announced herself on the WTA Tour in March of the previous year with a win over Świątek to reach the Miami Open semifinals, a result that had previously been her career high at a major tournament — until Saturday. The BBC, in a post-match interview summary, reported that Eala paid tribute to her grandfather and brother, who trained her as a child on courts she would visit after school, and that she called Centre Court her “dream court.” She is already a major sporting figure in the Philippines, according to The New York Times, which reported that fans have flocked to her matches at tournaments around the world.

Eala, in comments quoted by the Times of India, framed the result in personal terms: “I am really emotional and maybe for someone like Iga who has won so many Slams or for Serena or Venus this achievement may seem small. But for someone who grew up in the Philippines, this is everything.”

Same day, another defending contender exits

The upset was not limited to Świątek. According to the Times of India, second seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, was also knocked out on Saturday, losing 7-6, 6-1 to Elise Mertens on No. 1 Court. The Times of India reported that Rybakina had entered the match with a chance to overtake world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the rankings but undermined her position with a stream of unforced errors. With Świątek and Rybakina both eliminated on the same day, BBC’s headline referred to the pair’s exits together as part of the tournament’s third-round shake-up.

What to watch next

Eala’s run at Wimbledon continues into the second week, with her fourth-round opponent to be determined by the remainder of the draw. A loss in this stage would still leave her as the first Filipino player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam, a record that now stands regardless of the outcome. Świątek, meanwhile, will look to regroup ahead of the hard-court season, with The New York Times noting that her ranking will drop outside the top 10 when the new WTA list is published the following Monday. Wimbledon coverage continues on the BBC’s television and iPlayer platforms for UK viewers.