Eala’s Wimby journey ends at Station Paolini

MANILA, Philippines — Through three rounds, Alex Eala had a magical, dream run at Wimbledon. 

But the thing about dreams is they have to end eventually. 

Morning came on Eala’s remarkable Wimbledon journey as Italy’s Jasmine Paolini jolted the Filipina back to reality with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win Monday evening (Manila time) at Centre Court. 

The Filipina put up a gallant fight, but she could not get over the hump against the World No. 17 tennister. 

After dropping the first set, Eala had to get out of a 2-3 deficit in the second set and win the next three games to go up, 5-3, and move from a game from the third set. 

And while Paolini kept herself alive with a win in the ninth game, the World No. 32 Filipina finished off the second set with a massive 10th game, 6-4. 

The two tennisters continued to trade games in the third set, as Eala tied things up at 3-all. 

But Paolini held her serve in the seventh game to get the upper hand, 4-3. 

And with the 21-year-old serving, the Filipina held an advantage, but the 30-year-old forced the deuce. A double fault by Eala, and an unforced error on her backhand, gave the Italian the 5-3 lead. 

With Paolini serving, the two were held in a 30-all deadlock. But back-to-back errors by Eala on the return ended the Filipina's run at Wimbledon. 

Despite her exit, Eala had a campaign to remember in her first Grand Slam as a seeded tennister.

She became the first Filipina tennister to win match at Wimbledon after defeating Renata Zarazua in the first round.

And she did not stop there. 

She defeated Maya Joint in the second round before dethroning defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round in straight-sets. 

However, Eala ran into a brick wall against Paolini, who will now face Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals.