Wimbledon: Four Southeast Asians advance to second round

(FROM L-R) Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, Alex Eala of the Philippines and Janice Tjen of Indonesia during their Wimbledon 2026 first round matches. –AP PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines–All four Southeast Asian players in the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships have advanced to the second round.

Lanlana Tararudee and Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, Janice Tjen of Indonesia and Alex Eala of the Philippines all hurdled their first-round tests to stay alive in the grass-court Grand Slam.

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Tararudee defeated Lilli Tagger, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-4, while Sawangkaew rallied past 2026 French Open finalist and 20th seed Maja Chwalińska, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

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Tjen, meanwhile, asserted her mastery over No. 22 seed Leylah Fernandez, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

Eala, the only seeded player among the four at No. 29, dominated Renata Zarazúa, 6-1, 6-2, for her first Wimbledon main-draw victory.

Tararudee, Sawangkaew and Tjen all see action in the second round on Wednesday, while Eala faces Maya Joint, who ousted Serena Williams, on Thursday.

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