Wimbledon No. 29 seed Eala faces Mexico’s Zarazua in first round

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA has never been this Slam-ready like now for Wimbledon.

And with an all-time high confidence after a stellar buildup, the 21-year-old has high hopes in finally breaking through, especially as the first-ever Filipina seeded player in Grand Slam history.

“Who would have thought that at 21 I’d be seeded at Wimbledon?” said the No. 29 seed Ms. Eala during the Wimbledon media day ahead of her Round 1 clash against Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, WTA No. 75, at press time.

Ms. Eala, from qualifiers and wildcards in the previous years, became eligible in Grand Slams main draw last year after barging inside the WTA Top 100.

In just a year, she’s already seeded after returning to the world’s Top 30, thanks to a 9-3 record in an impressive grass season buildup marked by a title in Birmingham and a Final Four stint in Berlin. She moved up in the seedings due to the withdrawal of world No. 10 Victoria Mboko of Canada due to a knee injury.

And for Ms. Eala, that run should be enough reason to shore up her faith that she can finally hurdle a first-round hump in the Grand Slams, after exiting early in the Australian Open and the Roland Garros this year.

“I definitely think you need to have the mindset, especially in the Slam, that you can beat anyone. But then you also need to remember that anyone can beat you. So it really goes both ways,” added Ms. Eala, who trained one last time with good pal Eva Lys of Germany and her father Michael for D-Day, after proving it with big wins against No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in Berlin.

“I like to say that tennis is a gladiator sport, right? So, I think I’m coming into Wimbledon playing well. So the best I can do is go out there, give it my all, and see where that takes.”

Like Ms. Eala’s confidence, pundits have projected a win for her in the opening round to arrange an epic showdown with former world No. 1 and 23-time Slam champion Serena Williams of the United States in her tennis return after four years. Ms. Williams was to play her Round 1 match against WTA No. 87 Maya Joint on Tuesday as well.

Aside from the singles, Ms. Eala will also team up with Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova (WTA No. 48), whom she beat for the Birmingham crown, against the grizzled eighth-seeded pair of Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Sofia Kenin of USA.

Ms. Williams, with her sister Venus, also a former world No. 1, is also in the doubles as a wildcard.

Pressure on Ms. Eala to make it out of the first round also grew bigger on Tuesday as the Wimbledon kickstarted with historic wins from three Southeast Asian players in Janice Tjen of Indonesia, as well as Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand.

Ms. Sawangkaew, WTA No. 164, pulled off the biggest one by eliminating French Open finalist and No. 20 seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland via comeback, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Ms. Tjen, WTA No. 42, stunned No. 22 seed Filipina-Canadian Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) before Ms. Tararudee, WTA No. 99, beat No. 82 Lilli Tagger, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4.

But Ms. Eala is not keen on getting ahead of herself — both in the singles and doubles plays — with a mantra of playing like a debutant, unseeded and unranked wildcard like she once was in the previous years.

“There are no handouts here. So, every match is going to be difficult. I’m super focused. I think I would say I’m playing well. I’m feeling confident. I think I’ve been putting in the work, that’s for sure. But then again it’s a Slam, everyone’s out to get you. So I’m ready,” she vowed. — John Bryan Ulanday