Alexandra Eala Leaves Wimbledon with ‘Head Held High’ Despite Defeat to Jasmine Paolini

Alexandra Eala, the conqueror of defending champion Iga Swiatek, has crashed out of Wimbledon. On Monday (July 6), the Filipino ace, playing in her career’s first Grand Slam fourth round, suffered a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Jasmine Paolini.

Her win over Swiatek made Eala the first player from the Philippines, male or female, in the Open Era to reach the fourth round of a Major. The moment was quite emotional for her, and she, despite her exit, is very proud of her efforts and will be leaving London with her “head held high“.

It was a very demanding match, a great challenge. I think Jasmine played amazingly. I gave everything I had, did all I could do today, so I am very proud of it. I have to be very proud of everything I have achieved this week: I leave here with positive thoughts. There are many positive conclusions to draw from this tournament.

Before this Wimbledon, Eala had never made it to the third round of a Major. She has so far made one tour-level final at last year’s Eastbourne International, losing to Maya Joint.

First of all, how I think I handled the pressure. There’s pressure every week: the more you want to win, the more pressure you encounter along the way… and in that sense, I am happy to have faced it with my head held high. I stayed calm when I needed to control my emotions, and overall, I feel like my performance was the best it could be today.

Alexandra Eala added

Eala has two WTA 125 titles to her name: she won the 2025 Guadalajara 125 Open (beat Panna Udvardy) and the 2026 Birmingham Open (beat Nikola Bartunkova). With this win, Paolini has improved her head-to-head record over the 21-year-old to 1-1. Before this match, they met in the round of 32 of the Dubai Tennis Championships, which Eala won in straight sets.

Jasmine Paolini talked about her resurgence at Wimbledon after defeating Alexandra Eala

Jasmine Paolini will be playing her career’s second quarterfinal at Wimbledon. When she reached the stage for the first time in 2024, she also progressed to the final and lost the title to Barbora Krejcikova.

Before the London Major, the 30-year-old failed to make deep runs in almost every singles tournament she played. She suffered an opening-round exit in the lone warm-up tournament she played (in Eastbourne) before Wimbledon. At the press conference after reaching the last eight of the grass-court Major, Paolini talked about her resurgence.

When I lost the first set 6-0 in the first match, I tried to stay positive, repeating to myself, ‘it can only get better from here’. I knew the first round was tough because Montgomery played very well on grass. I think that gave me confidence for the following matches. Point by point, I started feeling better. That’s great. I also try to approach these matches positively, in the right way.

But the job is not done yet, and she is gearing up for the quarterfinals against Marta Kostyuk, who is enjoying great form this season, having won titles at the Open de Rouen and at the Madrid Open. The Ukrainian ace, who reached her career’s first Grand Slam semifinal in this year’s French Open, trails 1-2 in the head-to-head matchups versus Paolini.

Kostyuk will be playing in the last eight of Wimbledon for the first time in her career. She had never made it past the third round of this event before this season. The 24-year-old knocked out Ashlyn Krueger to schedule her match against the two-time Grand Slam singles finalist.

Also read: Flavio Cobolli Recreates Cristiano Ronaldo’s Iconic ‘Siuuu’ Celebration After Reaching Wimbledon Quarterfinals