By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) – Italy’s Jasmine Paolini ended Alexandra Eala’s trailblazing Wimbledon run in the fourth round with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory on a baking hot Centre Court on Monday.
The 21-year-old left-hander Eala is the first player from the Philippines to go so far in a Grand Slam and she pushed the 2024 runner-up hard throughout an absorbing contest.
Thirteenth seed Paolini, whose participation at Wimbledon was in doubt with a foot injury, started fast and surged into a 4-1 lead before Eala began to find her feet.
Eala has captivated Wimbledon crowds with her bubbly personality and free-flowing game which accounted for defending champion Iga Swiatek on Saturday.
With warm crowd support on Centre Court and 8,000 fans watching back home in the PhilSports Arena in Manila, she hit back strongly to take the second set as errors began to flow from the Paolini racket.
The match was poised on a knife edge going into the decider but Paolini got the break of serve to lead 5-3 and then finished the job in the next game as Eala sent a return wide.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Alison Williams)
Comments