Revenge took more than a year to arrive, but it came on the biggest stage in tennis.
No. 29 seed Alex Eala finally got her revenge on Maya Joint, rallying from a set down to score a convincing 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory on Thursday in their highly-anticipated second-round clash at the Wimbledon Championships.
Eala entered Wimbledon in excellent form after capturing the WTA 125 Birmingham Open title and reaching the semifinals of the WTA 500 Berlin Tennis Open. During her impressive grass-court run, she defeated recent WTA 250 HSBC Championships winner Donna Vekic, World No. 2 Elena Rybakina, then World No. 8 Elina Svitolina.
Joint, meanwhile, was coming off a milestone moment of her own, having made her first-ever appearance on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, where she eliminated Serena Williams on Wednesday.
The two rising stars last met in a thrilling final at the 2025 WTA Eastbourne Open. There, Joint saved four championship points in the deciding-set tiebreak before denying Eala the title.
“Yeah, so for those who don’t know, we had an insane match last year and I lost. It hit me quite hard. I cried a lot. I don’t think I was able to watch those highlights for a couple of months. So I’m really happy,” said Eala.
“I think I improved a lot in this past year. I’m happy I’m able to look back at that loss and I’m able to smile.”
For much of the opening set, it appeared Eala’s long-awaited revenge would have to wait even longer.
Joint came out firing, breaking Eala in the second game to take an early 2-0 lead. The 20-year-old Australian dictated play with aggressive shot-making, while an uncharacteristically sluggish Eala struggled to find her rhythm and piled up unforced errors. Both players then held serve until the ninth game, when Joint broke Eala for a second time to secure the opening set.
The momentum shifted in the second set.
Eala found her rhythm in the third game, earning her first break of the match to move ahead 2-1. The 21-year-old Filipina extended rallies, forcing Joint into mistakes and gradually taking control from the baseline. Another service break in the seventh game effectively sealed the set, and Eala comfortably held serve in the next game to force a deciding third set.
By then, all the momentum belonged to Eala.
Although Joint attempted to match her from the baseline, Eala refused to relinquish control. She broke the Australian in the opening game and again in the third to stretch her run to six consecutive games and build a commanding 3-0 advantage.
Eala never looked back, blanking Joint for the remainder of the set to complete the comeback and advance to the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time in her career.
“I really had to dig deep. Especially after the first set. Maya came out on fire. She came out ready. I was expecting a really good match. We’ve competed in some very good conditions before, so I was prepared for a good match,” said Eala.
“She’s coming off an amazing win. I watched it and I think she played really well and handled herself really well in that situation. Congratulations to Maya.”
With the long-awaited payback secured, Eala now turns her attention to an even greater challenge. Awaiting the Filipina is third seed and defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.
It will be the third meeting between the two. Eala stunned the former World No. 1 in straight sets at the 2025 WTA 1000 Miami Open before Swiatek responded with a three-set victory in the Madrid Open a month later.
