Alex Eala's Wimbledon run ends with loss to ex-finalist Jasmine Paolini

Former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini outlasted Alexandra Eala, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, at The Wimbledon Championships in London on Monday, July 6.

Paolini will next face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the Madrid Open 2026 champion, in the quarterfinals.

FOR TENNIS FANS: Alex Eala’s 2026 campaigns

Also through to the quarterfinals is former Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who defeated current No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.

A first-time ladies champion at Wimbledon this year

Osaka will face Karolina Muchova, who sent off 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, making sure that this year’s last woman standing will be a first-time Wimbledon champion.

Eala and Paolini’s match began at 1:30 p.m. at Centre Court (8:30 p.m. in the Philippines), in front of a crowd that included tennis legends Billie Jean King and Roger Federer.

Paolini earned the first break of serve of the match, breaking Eala’s second service game in the first set. She then held serve, taking a 4-1 lead.

Eala had a chance to break the Italian’s fourth service game, getting two break point opportunities, but Paolini held serve with a forehand winner.

Alex Eala’s Wimbledon run

The Filipina also held serve, at one point firing off an ace, but Paolini still served for the set at 5-3.

Paolini saved three break point opportunities as she tried to close the first set.

Eala broke Paolini’s serve on her fourth opportunity, pushing the score to 4-5.

But Paolini broke back, taking the first set, 6-4, in about 51 minutes.

Eala had three break point opportunities at the start of the second set, but Paolini saved all of them and held serve.

A flurry of unforced errors

The Filipina broke Paolini’s next service game, taking a 2-1 lead. Again, Paolini broke back, pushing the score to 2-all.

Leading at 4-3 in the second set, Eala saved three break points.

As Paolini’s unforced errors crept up (she had 21 in the set, while Eala had fewer than 10), the Filipina forced a deciding set.

Eala held her first three service games in the third set. But Paolini had two break point opportunities while up 4-3 and converted the second one for a chance to serve for the match.

Pegula, Gauff also reach quarterfinals

In the other matches, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff arranged for an all-American quarterfinal, after defeating Iva Jovic and Belinda Bencic, respectively.

Pegula is the highest-ranked WTA player still in Wimbledon, after the defeats of Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Iga Swiatek.

In their previous meeting before Wimbledon, Eala beat Paolini in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6(5) in the Dubai Tennis Championships last February.

Alex Eala’s Wimbledon run to boost ranking

Paolini, 30, was a finalist at both Wimbledon and the French Open in 2024. She is chasing her first tour-level title in singles since winning in Rome in 2025.

The Italian has finished each year within the top 50 since 2022, and at one point in 2024 was No. 4 in the WTA rankings.

Eala, meanwhile, first made it to the top 50 in 2025. Her career-best ranking so far is No. 29. She could surpass that with her Wimbledon results this year, once the WTA updates its rankings on Monday.

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