Romwel Anzures

Philippines' Alexandra Eala serves to Mexico's Renata Zarazua during their women's singles first round tennis match on the second day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 30, 2026. Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1783233689936IMG_1329.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Philippines&#x27; Alexandra Eala serves to Mexico&#x27;s Renata Zarazua during their women&#x27;s singles first round tennis match on the second day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 30, 2026. Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP."/>Philippines&#x27; Alexandra Eala serves to Mexico&#x27;s Renata Zarazua during their women&#x27;s singles first round tennis match on the second day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 30, 2026. Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP.MANILA — Alex Eala knows her serve is still a work in progress, but it proved more than enough to fuel one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships.</div>The Filipina tennis ace admitted she has never been among the tour&#x27;s biggest servers, yet found a way to make it work as she stunned World No. 3 Iga Swiatek, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2, in the third round on Saturday.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/4/alex-eala-dethrones-defending-champion-iga-swiatek-advances-to-wimbledon-fourth-round-2254">READ: Alex Eala dethrones defending champion Iga Swiatek, advances to Wimbledon fourth round</a></div>&quot;I have never really been the biggest server in comparison to a lot of the girls here, so I do my best to use my serve as an advantage,&quot; Eala said.In their bout, Eala&#x27;s first serve averaged 86.3 mph and her second serve 75.8 mph, well below Swiatek&#x27;s averages of 102.5 mph and 89.4 mph, respectively.Ironically, it was these that left Swiatek struggling to find her rhythm.&quot;I think it was tougher mentally for me to accept these missed returns from the slow serves,&quot; said the 2025 Wimbledon champion. &quot;It&#x27;s much tougher to return a serve like that than a normal serve.&quot;Swiatek added that Eala&#x27;s deliveries became even more difficult to read as the match wore on.&quot;She was serving slower and slower, and it became tougher and tougher for me to return those serves,&quot; she said. &quot;I know exactly how it&#x27;s going to come to me, but it&#x27;s such a different rhythm than what I usually have a chance to return.&quot;When informed of Swiatek&#x27;s remarks, Eala admitted she was surprised, but was pleased that it ultimately worked in her favor.&quot;I guess I did my job well,&quot; the 21-year-old said. &quot;Although I do believe that it&#x27;s been improving a lot. But I&#x27;m a very aggressive player, so I try to take all the opportunities I can. That&#x27;s the best way that I could describe it.&quot;Eala now shifts her focus to another stern test as she takes on Jasmine Paolini in the Round of 16 on Monday, looking to extend her historic Wimbledon run.

Alex Eala knows her serve is still a work in progress, but it proved more than enough to fuel one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships.

Alex Eala knows her serve is still a work in progress, but it proved more than enough to fuel one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships.

Alex Eala embraces 'slow serve' to dethrone world no. 3 Iga Swiatek

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Alex Eala embraces 'slow serve' to dethrone world no. 3 Iga Swiatek

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 05, 2026 03:52 PM PHT

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Tennis

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Alex Eala

2026 Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek

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