Alexandra Eala comes back to beat Maya Joint at Wimbledon

LONDON, July 2:

The Filipina tennis star Alexandra Eala on Thursday reached the third round of Wimbledon 2026 for a career-best performance at the All England Club, coming from behind to beat Maya Joint of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

World No. 87 Joint was fresh off her statement win against Serena Williams, but Eala came through in one hour, 58 minutes amid a sea of Filipino flags.

She has a mouthwatering match-up ahead against defending champion Iga wi tek, who beat former finalist Karol na Pl kov in straight sets.

"I really had to dig deep, especially after that first set," the 29th seed said on-court.

"Maya came out on fire, she came out ready and I was expecting a really good match She is obviously coming off an amazing win. I watched it and she played really well and handled herself really well in that situation. So, congratulations to Maya."

Their only previous meeting came on the Eastbourne grass last year, when Joint won a super tiebreak in the final to claim the WTA 250 title. A year on and 58 miles (94km) away at the

All England Club, the Filipina has struck back in style, according to olympics.com.

"It hit me quite hard," she admitted of the Eastbourne final. "I cried a lot and I don't think I was able to watch those highlights for a couple of months. So, I'm really happy. I think I improved

a lot in this past year and I'm happy that I'm able to look back at that loss and I'm able to smile."(UNI)