Eala’s Wimbledon debut ends quick, falls to reigning champ

Sports

ALEX Eala threatened to pull off a major upset but Czech defending champion Barbora Krejcikova showed why she is the defending champion.

Krejcikova overcame a slow start and turned back Eala, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in their first-round duel in the Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday night (Philippine time), July 1, in London, England.

The World No. 16 Krejcikova needed two hours and 10 minutes to dispatch Eala, who couldn’t sustain her hot start en route to suffering an early exit following a stellar run in the Lexus Eastbourne Open last week.

The two both saw action in the Eastbourne Open but Krejcikova withdrew from her singles and doubles quarterfinal matches due to a hamstring injury. Eala, on the other hand, whipped up a storm in the competition, surviving two qualifying round matches to advance to the championship match.

Eala went on to lose to Maya Joint via a hard-fought three-set title match. Her stint in the Eastbourne Open made Eala the first Filipino to make it to the semifinal and final rounds of Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)-sanctioned tournament.

Starting her title retention bid in Wimbledon, Krejcikova showed no signs of injury, racing to a commanding 5-1 lead in the second set to tie the match. The defending champion turned the deciding set into a lopsided match, never looking back after building a 4-1 lead.

After the match, Krejcikova had nothing but praises for the 20-year-old Filipina tennis ace, whose loss came after she surged to a career-best No. 56 in the WTA ranking.

“I would like to start by giving credit to Alex. I mean what the hell she played in the first set. She was smashing the ball, cleaning the line,” said Krejcikova in a televised post-game interview..

While she faltered in her Wimbledon debut, Eala certainly earned the respect of her highly touted opponent.

“Wow, it’s the next generation coming. She’s gonna come up. She’s gonna be really good in the couple of years,” Krejcikova said.(CCM)