Alex Eala made a rousing debut in the Wimbledon Championships after taking down Argentina’s Solana Sierra, 6-2, 6-4, at the All England Club in London, Monday evening (Manila time).
The 16-year-old Filipina, who ranks third in the world in her division, emerged victorious in a long pivotal sixth game of the second set to take the 4-2 lead. She eventually capped off her Championships debut with an auspicious win after an hour of battle.
Sierra, though, was down a break in the second set at 1-3. She then hit a backhand winner to take her second breakpoint opportunity of the match. She eventually got the break to hang on for the match, cutting the deficit to 2-3.
Nonetheless, the momentum really shifted Eala’s side after that long sixth game. The Filipino took it from there despite some resistance from the Argentinian.
Still struggling from the service line at 32 percent in the opening set, Eala was able to take the said frame quite comfortably at 6-2. That then gave her the set advantage.
The Filipino and the South American traded service games to go at 2-1 in favor of the former. Eala eventually powered her way through her opponent’s second service game and took the break at 3-1.
Sierra found a way to return Eala’s hits in the seventh game to cut the deficit to three at 2-5. But her errors, forced and otherwise, handed the higher-seeded opponent the game and the set.
Eala will take on Spain’s Ane Mintegi Del Olmo in the following round.
