Alex Eala’s date with history is far from over. 

After beating world No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland in dramatic fashion, Eala faces another heavyweight in Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the Round of 16 of the Wimbledon Championships women’s singles event on Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.

The 21-year-old Filipina will march into the battle oozing with confidence after posting the biggest win of her career — and perhaps in the history of Philippine tennis — after downing Swiatek, 7-6, 6-2, in the Round  of 32 on Saturday night (Manila time). 

Aside from that, she has a slight advantage over the 30-year-old netter from the small Italian town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana after beating her in the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates last February, 6-1, 7-6.

Feeding the dream

Eala said she gave it her all just to beat Swiatek, a dedication that was immortalized by a singular photo where she was seen diving hard just to deliver a beautiful forehand return for a valuable point against the five-time Grand Slam champion from Warsaw.

“So much, so much. I think at the end of that match, my legs just kind of buckled. They weren’t working anymore. It was an overwhelming wave of emotions,” Eala said after the victory that reverbarated all over the world.

“It was a very different experience for me from last year because I think last year, before the match, I was really emotional because I was like, ‘Wow, the impact of this court.’ Before the match today, I think I was able to put myself in a mindset where it’s still important. It’s still a big match for me, but at the same time, it’s like every other match. So I think I had a good balance.”

Eala added that competing at the Centre Court is not easy. But instead of buckling down to pressure, she is responding positively, knowing that a victory on one of the biggest stages in professional tennis will bring pride and joy to her country.

“I think it’s just because this court has been the one that I’ve seen so many times. You’re at the baseline before serving, and you can imagine all the scenes of everybody winning their Wimbledons there. It feeds the dream,” said Eala, who overcame the challenges presented by Reneta Zarazua of Mexico in the first round and Maya Joint of Australia in the second round before that nerve-wracking win over Swiatek — the tournament’s reigning champion.

“I think you have to face pressure head-on, especially as a competitive athlete. It’s part of the job. The feeling of coming out of that pressure even stronger is like no other.”

“I would rather face it head-on and know that I gave everything I had instead of running away from it. I feel like that’s just the character that I have.”

Grasscourt surge 

Grass has also become one of Eala’s most comfortable surfaces this year.

She captured the Birmingham Classic title in June after defeating world No. 46 Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic. She also reached the Round of 16 of the Queen’s Club Championships before advancing to the semifinals of the Berlin Tennis Open in Germany, where she defeated world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and world No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the same month.

After competing in higher-level tournaments leading into Wimbledon, she believes her game has continued to evolve.

“Well, it’s my second year doing a proper grass season, and it’s my first year doing it at this level, playing the 500s. I think I’ve learned a lot about myself — not just on this surface, but about my game in general and how I’ve improved over the past year. So I’m really happy,” Eala said.

“I think I’ve had great results on grass even before today and before this week. So, yeah, very happy.”

With the win over Swiatek, Eala is already guaranteed to receive £300,000 — or around P24 million. That amount will swell to a whopping P39 million should she pull off another masterful win in the Last 16.

Aside from that, Eala would also become only the third female Southeast Asian player to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals, joining Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, who made the top eight in 2008, and Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia, who accomplished the feat in 1997.

Italian threat 

But standing in her way is Paolini, who enters the fourth round fully aware of the danger that the red-hot Eala presents.

“I know I will play against her. I watched a little of her last match. I think Eala’s game suits grass very well,” said Paolini, who beat Robin Montgomery of the United States, Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the second round, and Maria Sakkari of Greece in the third round to earn the right to face Eala in the fourth round for a spot in the quarterfinals.

“She also showed a high level in Berlin. She is a very dangerous player here.”

Paolini believes that their previous meeting could help, although she expects a very different contest on the lawns of Wimbledon.

“It’s good to have played against her already once. But here the surface is different, although it was very fast in Dubai,” Paolini said.

“I think I’m going to watch some matches here because it’s been about five or six months.”

Paolini added that she expects Eala to draw plenty of Filipino supporters so she wants Italians to cheer for her in one of the biggest battles of her career.

“She’s playing wonderfully. She has a lot of people cheering for her, which is great for our sport because it involves more people from all over the world,” Paolini said.

“The crowd will be there for every point. But that’s sports. I also enjoy playing in those kinds of situations, and honestly, I hope there will be many Italians there, too.”