Alex Eala, partner still Wimbledon underdogs against last-minute foes

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Aiming to do better in doubles action, Alex Eala teams up with German player Eva Lys in Wimbledon against a favored replacement duo

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala may have exited early in the singles competition of Wimbledon, but she hopes to stay a bit longer in London for more tennis action. 

The Filipina tennis ace returns to the court in the first round of the doubles competition on Thursday, July 3, giving her little time to lick the wounds from a sorry loss to defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the women’s singles opening round. 

Eala will partner with Germany’s No. 2 player Eva Lys as they take on the replacement pair of Quinn Gleason of the United States and Ingrid Martins of Brazil.

The 20-year-old Eala, currently ranked world No. 56 in singles, also had a meteoric rise in her world doubles rankings, even though she has not been as active in the event.

Now at a career-high No. 155 — a massive jump from her 456th doubles ranking in early May — Eala’s surge was fueled by  her quarterfinal finish in the WTA 1000 Italian Open when she partnered with American superstar Coco Gauff and her second-round appearance in the French Open when she paired with Renata Zarazua of Mexico. 

Lys, on the other hand, rarely plays doubles in the pro circuit, which explains her world ranking of 1,486. She did recently join the doubles event of the French Open in May and the WTA 500 German Open in June, where she was eliminated in the opening rounds. 

The 23-year-old German, however, is a solid singles player who currently ranks 61st in the world. She made it all the way to the fourth round of the Australian Open last January before losing to former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. 

Lys prevailed over Yue Yuan of China on Monday, June 30, to advance to the second round of Wimbledon. 

Against Gleason and Martins, Eala and Lys wound up facing tougher opening-round foes as the pair play exclusively in doubles in the women’s tour. 

Eala and Lys were originally slated to face Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia. 

Both more known in singles than in doubles, Danilovic and Potapova withdrew from the competition due to undisclosed reasons. The speculation, though, is that Potapova suffered an injury after she likewise withdrew from her singles opening-round match on Monday.

Gleason and Martins are tipped to hold the edge in chemistry as the two have teamed up numerous times, with the American and Brazilian pair winning the titles in the WTA 125 Montreux Ladies Open in Switzerland and the WTA 250 Merida Open Akron in Mexico in 2024. 

They went on a roll in Italy in June this year when they finished runner-up in the WTA 125 Open delle Puglie, then followed it up a week later with a championship in the Città di Grado Tennis Cup.

The 30-year-old Gleason holds a career-high world No. 70 in doubles, while the 28-year-old Martins ranks 80th. – Rappler.com