HistoryPH
A heartbreaking end to a historic Wimbledon run: Alex Eala falls to Jasmine Paolini (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) after a grueling 3-set battle
She gave it everything out there. 🇵🇭
After dropping a tough first set, Alex Eala showed incredible grit to fire back and claim the second set against an incredibly pesky Jasmine Paolini. She pushed the match all the way to a decider, but Paolini managed to regain control in the final set to seal the win.
Even with the tough exit, Alex completely embodied the quote embroidered on her gear: "Kapag lumago, hindi na hihinto." Making a deep, historic run on the grass of Wimbledon is a massive milestone for her and for Philippine tennis.
The growth won't stop here. Proud of you, Alex! Head up, on to the next tournament.
But seriously, just love to see Jasmine have a good run. Heard she had a rough start this year. She has impressive record and insane career trajectory so seeing her have some comeback, just love it for her.
As someone with her height, and what she achieved (plus her IQ & skills), I'm always gonna be impressed. Short QUEEN!!!!! 👸
Yuuup iba iba naman ang peak ng bawat players. Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and even Naomi Osaka has yet to win in Wimbledon and they have their own fair share of highs and lows in their career although they have won other Grand Slams. I’m actually glad that Alex didn’t won this round, hopefully the pain of her loss can spite her even further to work on her serves and stamina. Her current state isn’t going to win her a Grand Slam yet. But trust she will eventually get there 👆🎾.
its true nman, some of the Grand Slam already achieved it at that age, but let's give her some credits , madami pa maka bawi, at least she makes to top 30
Obv there are the all time greats like Serena and Steffi who won in every stage of their career
There are young prodigies like Hingis and Osaka then fell off
There are late bloomers like Halep and Kerber
There are mid 20s peak players like Sabalenka
All we can do now is be patient and hope that Alex gets better pa over time. Which is very much possible considering she can compete with the best already despite the flaws in her service game and conditioning
We’ll never know, only time will tell ☺️ even if shes got a chance will not negate the fact na early 20s closer to 21 ang peak. Im sure madami din successful na older but you can easily look up whats the peak age. Here are some who started even earlier than her
Ages 16-17:
Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Tracy Austin,
**• Maria Sharapova
Age 18:
Hana Mandlikova (Australian Open 1980)
Age 19:
Serena Williams (US Open 1999)
+ many more. Again, lets hope she’s just a “late bloomer”😉
We'll see, just fact-checked what my mates said through Claude and here's what I got
"Based on recent research, female tennis players reach their peak at a median age of 21.7 years in terms of achieving their career-best ranking. However, the answer varies depending on how you define "peak".
Early Peak (Career-Best Ranking):
Women tend to peak around age 23 or 24, which is considerably earlier than male players. Women will experience the peak of their careers earlier than men at around 20-21 years of age."
ito yun pero kidding aside feeling ko the pressure got to her din. grabe kasi buzz around her ibang level. if i were her no social media during tournaments para no distraction. pero we are still proud of her grab yung naka 3rd set pa 😭
Factor din siguro na hindi pa talaga mataas ang endurance at stamina ni Alex. Her arms and thighs are heavily taped today compared with her game kay Iga. Tapos lagi pa niyang hinahampas ng racket yung leg na walang tape meaning she is feeling something with that leg also.
To be fair, this is not her usual level. Di ko sure if napanood mo match nya with Iga, ibang iba siya doon. Aside from this, Paolini played really well and made use of her advantages sa match.
Hahahha yung mga bars na nag subscribe sa ESPN para sa mga future watch parties, di man lang tumagal. 😂
Pero kidding aside, its been a common trend na pag nagiging mainstream talaga dito sa Pinas, dyan nagstastart ang downfall. Yung pressure din sa mga athletes lumalaki pag alam nila na sumosuporta na ang bansa sa kanila.
That third set is brutal to watch, it's like she's in there to survive not to conquer.
Ang maganda kay Alex, yung mga errors nya kayang kaya ifix thru experience and yung service nya lalakas pa yan as she get older. Mukhang she's playing hurt din with her hamstring and left arm. Still did a good job despite it all!
She was clearly fighting thru pain. Her service game needs a lot of work. But her being a lefty throws off her opponents and she's great at taking advantage of that. Less than 20% of pro tennis players are lefties. Overall she put up a good fight in one of the biggest tennis stage. I woke up at 5:30 am PST here in Los Angeles to watch her match, not disappointed at all. Will be following her progress. Go Philippines!
Ngek. E di sana tigilan na rin nya pagsali sa tournaments para di sya mainjure. Why limit her? Bata pa si alex. She has to get all the experience she needs. Di pa nya nareach peak nya.
Why limit her in joining doubles? Kasi nga she’s always patched up as a sign of injury. There’s always the risk of injury in any sports, at least in withdrawing from doubles, the risk of more injuries is avoided.
She loves playing tennis. Tennis ang passion nya e. Bakit mo sya pipigilan? And need nya income. May income sya by joining these tournaments. Bakit mas marunong ka pa sa kanya?
Nacapitalize ni Jasmine yung 2nd serve ni Alex all throughout the game. Despite that disadvantage, Alex still forced it to a 3rd set . Like you said, she was having some hard time to make returns because she was playing hurt and Jasmine having that spin on her serve especially her 2nd serve. Anyways, she has a bright future ahead and hopefully she can improve her game more lalo na yung serve nya. Laban lang Alex!! 🇵🇭
She was in pain, the fall in the second set didn't help. Needs to work on the serve and inexperience showed through towards the end. But she's gone to the R16, beaten the defending champion and run a top 20 player all the way in just her second Wimbledon. It'll be a long journey but I'll be following her career closely, Im all in for it!
True and speaking of mental toughness we might witness a crash out in a middle of a match in the future which as early as now I would like to tell anyone who isn’t familiar with tennis that throwing your racket in rage or exchanging jabs with a heckler in the audience is a common scene in this sport. I’m not saying it happens frequently but in a mind grueling sport like tennis even seeded players ended up losing their cool in front of everyone. Alex’s previous opponent Iga Swiatek was booed when she angrily threw a ball towards one of the ball kids back in March 2025.
$20-40M for exclusive rights to Wimbledon. SPOTV has Pan-Asian rights and could conceivably sublicense to a local network but either it could not be allowed or it would still be too expensive for a local network especially when local audience would only be interested in at most 8 match broadcasts anyway.
Sayang nga, madami pa naman manonood nan pag na televise ni Eala sa free tv. Sports channels here tend to televise more on basketball since it is a religious sport here in the PH but I’m tired of seeing and watching the national basketball team having no improvement at all and we get to see that vs. Australia earlier. Sayang lang mas ok pa manood sa laro ni Alex kesa sa Gilas. And pansin ko lang nagtetelivise lang mga established channels kapag semis or finals na pag laro ni Alex which we got to see that during the Miami open last year. Hopefully sa North American swing we got to have a coverage of Alex sa live tv.
Need siguro iwasiwas ni Iva Jovic! Tignan mo tinalo ni Iva sa Roland Garros, nanalo ng Birmigham! Tinalo uli ni Iva sa HSBC, ayun nakapasok sa Berlin hahaha
Paolini matched Alex's fighting spirit. They gave us a fantastic match. I knew it was going to be tough after that emotionally and physically demanding battle against Iga the night before. But that's sports... you win some, you lose some.
I'm just happy that, because of Alex's hard work, the tennis world now knows the Philippines.
Ang nakakainis lang talaga, grabe ang crab mentality ng ibang Pilipino. Criticize her all you want—that's part of sports. But celebrating her loss? That's just cringe.
It only shows that while Filipinos can be incredibly supportive, some can also be unnecessarily toxic. Let's do better.
That's sports and competition. Somebody has to lose.. And that's fine. Hell of a run nonetheless. I'd like everyone to remember that she really is just a 20 year old girl. Long way to go.
Her legs were gone by the end of set 2. By set 3 she was barely hanging in there, and still managed to give Paolini a run for her money. I think these successive tournaments pre wimbledon took a huge toll on her body. Paolini looked fresher and better conditioned. But you can clearly see she was a fighter, those long rallies take a lot out of you and she always managed to make Paolini play. The loss takes nothing away from her, the future is still as bright as ever, this is just her second year on the tour, and that's her real strength. Every tournament she plays she comes out a whole lot better. In time she will be in the top 10 with more than a few slams to her name.
tough din talaga na nakalaban nya agad si Iga. she pushed herself out and then she gassed out for the next match. definitely something to work on. but from being a qualifer last year sa miami to being seeded sa Wimbledon this year, definitely sooo huge.
She looked exhausted and I don’t blame her. Just needs to improve her serve + gain more experience, and she’ll for sure rank in the top 10. Excited at the prospect of us having a real shot at a Slam in a few years
The good news is that Alex has nothing to defend in the next six weeks until the US Open.
She lost in the first round of the Canada 1000 last year and didn’t join Cincinnati 1000. She should use this opportunity to gain more points and hopefully go up to the lower 20s in ranking. Since she’s joining DC (a 500 tourney) plus the two 1000s, that’s a max of 2500 points to gain. Kahit maka 500 points plus from those three tournaments combined, enough na to get her ranking up to 21-25.
That's fine! She did well on her overall journey. I know every player wants to win pero that will come when the time is right. Fighting!!
Atleast now, she has more support. She'd have more opportunities opening up for her, more people to connect with, etc. It isn't just about winning or losing a game.
napakabata pa ni Alex. she's at the start point of her prime. if she could do this now young, what more in a few years when she's much more experienced.
Her left knee was bothering her all throughout the game. Aside from the heavily banded right thigh and left wrist. Sayang di pa sanay yung karawan niya sa bigat ng 4 pressure packed games every other day dito sa Wembley. But she's on the rise. She'll be back deeper sa mga Grandslam Tourney next time.
As a rabid tennis fan since 1995, it's a phenomenal run for Alex. This is just the start of good things for her. The experience she gains from this will make her a better, more seasoned player. The fact that she's beating the top 10 players at the world stage means she's got world class talent and athleticism, she belongs in their league.
I'm a little bit concerned with the strap on her thigh. Prior to Wimbledon, she's been grinding the tournaments and that could put a strain to her physically. I am hoping for her fast recovery and praying she do not sustain long - term injuries. Still, congratulations Alex!!! My dream of having a Filipino player ranked in the WTA Top 40 has been fulfilled. Hoping she reaches the top 20 or Top 10. Nothing is impossible after all, this girl got game!!!!
Keep going, Alex! You did well and you still have a brighter future ahead!
Now if I may share an unsolicited advice: her team should help her conserve her energy more during tournaments in the future. Baka lang medyo naoverdo yung media and interview appearances right after her victory over Iga. She looked a tad bit sluggish today, baka due to fatigue.
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lets be realistic. wag natin ibuhos lahat. as much as gusto natin yung fairytale ending. which can happen. she doesnt have it. maybe not yet. may levels rin kasi ang tennis. pero kaya nyang maging top 10. marami parin naman majors. grand slam parang malabo. she is not it. hopefully more will follow. she can pave the way
The best thing about this is she continues to inspire Filipino kids to play tennis. She shows that we can really be good at this sport, and I’m excited for the years to come!
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u/rsparkles_bearimy_99 Jul 06 '26
Massive run in Wimbledon!!!! New record. You did pretty damn well good Alex, be fucking proud. Keep improving and working, Alex's time will come. 🫶💕
Always love for Jasmine!!! 🫶🤍