London (AFP) – Alexandra Eala bids to extend her dream Wimbledon run into the quarter-finals when she faces Jasmine Paolini on Monday, as Grigor Dimitrov tries to banish the painful memories of last year's fourth-round exit.
Issued on: 05/07/2026 - 20:06
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Kazakh Alexander Bublik also eyes a maiden last-eight appearance at the All England Club when he takes on sixth seed Taylor Fritz.AFP Sport looks at three matches to watch on the eighth day of the tournament (x denotes seeding):Jasmine Paolini (ITA x13) v Alexandra Eala (PHI x29)Eala leads head-to-head 1-0-- Eala stunned reigning champion Iga Swiatek with a brilliant straight-sets victory on Centre Court in the third round and now faces the task of backing up that breakthrough triumph against former Wimbledon finalist Paolini.The 21-year-old has been tipped to become a star of the women's game since defeating Swiatek to reach the Miami Open semi-finals last year.She had only won one Grand Slam match before arriving at the All England Club last week, but is now starting to fulfil her promise after becoming the first player from the Philippines to reach the third round of a major in the Open era.Eala is already the biggest female sports star from the Southeast Asian nation in recent years, despite the successes of men's boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena on the global stage."It's an honour to be able to pave the way for young girls," Eala said. "It would be the honour of my life to be able to inspire others. I think inspiration is such a beautiful thing."The wily Paolini will pose a tough test, but the Italian, who lost both the French Open and Wimbledon finals in 2024, knows she is unlikely to be the crowd favourite."She's playing great," Paolini said of Eala, who enjoys strong support from Filipino fans."She has a huge crowd with her. Now on the bridge they were screaming 'Alex, Alex'. It's so good for our sport, I think, also to involve more people around the world."Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v Arthur Fery (GBR)First meeting
