Eala, Serena Williams fancied to Wimbledon openers and set up showdown

MANILA, Philippines -- Former world tennis pros and champions are counting on Alex Eala to take care of her business in the Wimbledon opener to arrange a gigantic second-round showdown with American legend and former World No. 1 Serena Williams as the grass championships kick off today at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.

Eala, the first Filipina seeded player in Grand Slam history at No. 29, and Williams, as a wildcard in her tennis return after four years, are in the lower bracket of the stacked 128-player field with a possibility of meeting in the second round.

And just like every tennis fan in the world, the sporting greats are buckling up to their seats for the probable epic showdown between the rising Filipina star and the grizzled veteran with 23 Grand Slam crowns.

“I think Serena’s going to get through Maya Joint and I think Eala’s going to win her opener as well so that’s going to be Serena and Eala in the second round. And that’s going to be another center court matchup,” said Canadian-British great Greg Rusedski on his “Off Court with Greg Rusedski” podcast leading up to the queen of grass tournaments.

Rusedski, 52, was the No. 1 British player in the 90s and reached a career-best ranking of ATP No. 4 after feats as a quarterfinalist and finalist in the 1997 Wimbledon and US Open, respectively.

Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick, 43, of the United States echoed the same sentiment, even stretching to a point of envisioning an Eala-Williams duel already in the second round.

So, who wins in the duel between contrasting players with the lefty Eala known for her groundstrokes and the right-handed power server in Williams coming out of retirement for her first singles game since the 2022 US Open?

“This is a tough one because Eala switches directions really well. The one thing that I’m worried about with Serena is someone hitting behind her when she’s moving (in the doubles), like movement is going to be everything for her (in singles), that’s what we don’t know,” said 2003 US Open champion Roddick on his “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast.

“Serve looks good, ball-striking looks good. I haven’t heard a ton of reports as people are keeping it pretty locked up. Eala can spread the court and she can play in both directions. This is a really hard one. She can expose Serena but she doesn’t serve that well.”

But like Eala and Williams, it’s first things first for Rusedski and Roddick – and that’s for their bets to hurdle the first round against equally tough opponents.

Eala, the WTA No. 30, will battle Mexican veteran Renata Zarazua, WTA No. 75, while the unranked Williams goes up against WTA No. 87 Joint, the tormentor of Eala for her foiled first WTA title in 2025, in a still-to-be-determined game time and court designation as the main draw gets going Monday.

Also in their singles’ bracket are World No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 14 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who are projected to be in their way from the third round to the quarterfinals.

Then it’s either No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of USA or Eala’s kryptonite, Linda Noskova of Czechia, No. 10, who could be waiting at the semifinals to complete the lower bracket against the upper draw led by World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Eala will also strut her stuff in the doubles with WTA No. 48 Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia while Williams partners with her sister Venus – Eala’s teammate in a Bad Homburg quarterfinal finish – as a wildcard pair albeit they are on different brackets.

Riding on a 9-3 grass season slate marked by a Birmingham title and Berlin semis stint, the graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy had her final preparations for Wimbledon on Sunday by trading shots with Bartunkova and her good pal and WTA No. 51 Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey.