Eala rallies past Slovenian foe to zoom in on Wimbledon berth

MANILA, Philippines – Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala is one step away from history. 

The 19-year-old Eala is just one win away from the main draw of Wimbledon after a grind-it-out, come-from-behind win over Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek, 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-3, Wednesday night (Manila time.) 

The Asian Games bronze medalist had to dig deep and outlast the World no. 110 tennister, who was seeded 14th in the qualifying round. 

After an error-riddled first set, Eala fought tooth and nail to force the third set against the 26-year-old European. 

She was pushed on the brink of elimination after Zidansek went up 5-4 in the second frame as errors continued to hound the teenager. 

While still battling blunders, Eala was able to tie it up at 5-all and 6-all to force the tiebreak.

Here, the Filipina clawed from a 3-6 deficit and stuck around to see Zidansek lose the set with back-to-back errors, 11-9.

With newfound confidence, the young star kept her distance against the Slovenian as errors spelled the doom for her higher-ranked opponent.

Eala committed 38 total errors against 23 for Zidansek. The former also had less receiving points won against the latter.

However, the Rafa Nadal Academy graduate won more service points.

In the third round of the Wimbledon qualifiers, Eala will face Lulu Sun of New Zealand, currently ranked World no. 123.

A win will finally give the 19-year-old the honor of being the first Filipina to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam event.