Alex Eala has made history once again.
Eala has become the first Filipino in history to earn a singles seed at a Grand Slam tournament after being named the No. 29 seed for this year’s Wimbledon Championships, set from June 29 to July 12.
Eala is also only the second Filipino in the Open Era to receive a Grand Slam seeding, joining Treat Huey, widely regarded as the greatest Filipino doubles player in history.
A longtime member of the Philippine men’s national team, Huey was seeded in five consecutive Grand Slam men’s doubles events beginning with the 2016 Australian Open.
Partnering with Belarusian Max Mirnyi, he reached the Wimbledon semifinals and was seeded ninth at the 2016 US Open.
Huey retired after the 2023 season and achieved a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 18 in 2016.
The 21-year-old Eala will be making her second main-draw appearance at the prestigious grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.
(C) Berlin Open
Before Wimbledon, however, she will make her final tune-up at the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
Eala received a wildcard entry into the singles main draw, where she will face World No. 24 Elise Mertens of Belgium in the opening round. The match has yet to be scheduled.
The two have met twice before, with Mertens winning both encounters in straight sets.
Their most recent meeting came at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open on April 24, where the 30-year-old Belgian cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in just 77 minutes.
The winner of the Eala-Mertens clash will advance to face either four-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan or World No. 45 Magdalena Frech of Poland.
Eala will also compete in doubles, where she is set to partner tennis legend Venus Williams.
The duo will take on the alternate pair of World No. 144 Catherine Harrison of the United States and World No. 141 Alexandra Osborne of Australia on Monday at 5:00 PM (Manila time).
