IN A tense opening match at Wimbledon on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, narrowly avoided becoming the second consecutive reigning women’s champion to exit in the first round.
The defending Wimbledon champion Krejcikova rallied from a set down to defeat the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, ranked 56th, with a final score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Centre Court.
Since the Open Era began in 1968, only one reigning women’s Wimbledon champion had lost in the first round: Steffi Graf in 1994.
However, this unusual upset occurred just last year when Marketa Vondrousova, the unseeded 2023 champion, was defeated. Early in Tuesday’s match, it seemed as though history might repeat itself for the 17th-seeded Krejcikova.
Her opponent, 20-year-old Eala, a left-hander, was making only her second Grand Slam main draw appearance, having previously lost in the first round of Roland-Garros in May.
Notably, Eala holds the distinction of being the only woman representing the Philippines to compete in the main draw of Wimbledon in the Open Era.
Eala, who signed with an agent at just 13 and trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy, showed flashes of the form that has garnered her significant attention this year.
She was seeking her fourth top-20 victory of 2025. Eala turned heads at the Miami Open, reaching the semifinals with impressive wins over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world No. 1 and five-time major champion Iga Swiatek.
Just last week, she again defeated Ostapenko en route to the final of the grass-court Eastbourne Open.
The 29-year-old Krejcikova, who had withdrawn from the Eastbourne quarterfinals due to a right thigh issue, started slowly, committing 19 unforced errors in the first set.
She, however, significantly improved her play, making only 18 unforced errors throughout the rest of the match.
Krejcikova often celebrated her points with a clenched fist and a shout, steadily building momentum towards her hard-fought victory. / FROM THE WIRES