Costly errors in the closing games cut short Alex Eala’s dream at the All England Club, where Italy’s Jasmine Paolini closed out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win in the fourth round on Monday, July 6, to book a quarterfinal place at Centre Court.
The decider hinged on the eighth game. Serving at 3-4, Eala unraveled with a double fault and a backhand miss after a second deuce, handing Paolini a 5-3 cushion. The 21-year-old briefly steadied in the next game, winning her first two points, before three straight unforced errors ended the two-hour, 21-minute contest.
For the Italian, a two-time major finalist ranked among the tour’s steadiest competitors, the win squared their head-to-head at one apiece. Eala had beaten her earlier this season in Dubai, 6-1, 7-6(5), and had arrived in London on the back of the biggest result of her career.
That result was a third-round takedown of defending champion Iga Swiatek, a 7-6(9), 6-2 upset that carried Eala into the second week of a Slam for the first time. She became the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam in the Open era, a run that turned her into the country’s dominant sports story and drew crowds to public viewing parties back home.
Paolini, 30, reflected on the setting afterward.
“I mean, it’s great. Stepping on this is something special and I was looking forward to it. Thank you, because there is an amazing atmosphere,” she said.
She also downplayed her form heading in.
“I came here without many matches. I played very few matches in the last month, and after the first set in the first round, I was like, ‘Okay, I can only go up from here.'”
The opening set had set the tone. Paolini pounced early, breaking Eala’s second service game and holding to lead 4-1 as she targeted the Filipina’s shakier second delivery. Eala clawed one break back to trail 4-5, but the Italian broke again immediately to pocket the set.
Eala answered emphatically after the interval. Trading early breaks to reach 2-2, she then broke through for a 4-3 edge. Paolini surged to a 0-40 lead on the next Eala service game, only for the left-hander to reel off five points in a row and hold for 5-3, a stretch that ranked among the match’s finest passages. She served out the set to force a third.
Grass has grown on Paolini, who reached the Wimbledon final here two years ago.
“It’s a weird surface. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. But when you play well and you feel good, I think it’s the best surface to play on,” she said.
Her form this fortnight signaled a recovery from a season disrupted by inconsistency and minor injuries, and it was enough to deny Eala a place among the last eight. What Eala leaves London with is a projected career-high ranking near No. 28 once the WTA updates its standings, and a body of work this fortnight that included wins over higher-ranked opponents and a nation watching every point.
