Alex Eala continues to make history as she pulled off a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over world No. 87 Maya Joint of Australia in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships.

It was sweet revenge for the 21-year-old Eala, who lost to the 20-year-old Joint in the Eastbourne Open final last year.

The world No. 32 Eala, a product of the prestigious Rafael Nadal Academy, joined tennis legends Felicismo Ampon and Raymundo Deyro as the only Filipinos to reach the third round of Wimbledon.

She also joins Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand as the only SEA athletes still in contention in the third Grand Slam of the year.

Eala will now face world No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the third round on Saturday with the time yet to be announced.

It will be the third time for both young stars to face each other after Eala stunned Swiatek in the quarterfinal of the Miami Open last year before the Polish netter exacted revenge in the Last 64 of the Madrid Open last May.

Upon reaching the third round of Wimbledon, she will pocket £185,000, or roughly P15.2 million.

A victory over Swiatek would put her in the Last 16, the farthest any Filipino could reach in Wimbledon.

Eala could make it a double victory in the women’s doubles as she and Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic are competing in the Last 64 against world No. 31 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and world No. 104 Sofia Kenin of the United States as of press time.

She hopes to also win her first doubles match in a Grand Slam since becoming a professional in 2020.