Alex Eala suffered an early exit in the Wimbledon Championships after a 6-3, 2-6, 1-6 loss to Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the first round Tuesday evening (Manila time) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.

The 20-year-old Eala tried hard after taking the first set but Krejcikova showed why she is the defending champion and won the match in two hours and 10 minutes.

Krejcikova, 29, admitted she had a tough time battling Eala, a Rafael Nadal Academy graduate.

“I mean I would like to start with giving the credits to Alex. I mean, what the hell she played in the first set. She was smashing the ball and she was cleaning the lines and all that,” Krejcikova, who entered the match with a thigh injury, said.

“She’s going to come up and she’s going to be really good in a couple of years. Big credit to her."

Eala's journey in Wimbledon isn't done yet as she competes in the women's doubles.

The No. 56-ranked Eala will join forces with Eva Lys of Germany as they face Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia in the first round on Wednesday.