By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Alex Eala displayed courage and tenacity in the crunch and pulled off a thrilling 7-6 (1), 6-4 over Jessika Ponchet of France in the first qualifying round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships in Great Britain on Tuesday, June 25.
The world No. 162 Eala survived the hard-serving Ponchet to advance to the second qualifying round against Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek.
Ponchet fired 6 aces but those were not enough to rattle the Filipina ace.
Zidansek, who is seeded 14th in the qualifiers, needed an extra set to outlast You Xiaodi of China, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Ponchet, 27, was no stranger to Eala having met the world No. 133 Frenchwoman four times the last three years – the last was during the semifinals of the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz International Tennis Federation (ITF) a year ago which she lost.
This time, it was Eala who emerged victorious as she demonstrated a resolve not seen in their previous match to boost her bid to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam event – a grass court at that.
The win, however, didn’t come easy.
The Filipina tennis sensation almost stumbled in the opening set after seeing her commanding 5-2 lead vanish with Ponchet winning the next three games to tie it at 5-all.
Eala was quick to adjust, holding on to her ground especially in the tiebreak, to claim the opening frame.
She dictated the pace in the second set, breaking Ponchet’s serve twice to take a 3-1 edge that set the tone in the remaining games.
