Phillipines’s Alexandra Eala, 21, Stuns Wimbledon Reigning Champion Swiatek

The two-set win made Eala the first Phillipine’s player to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Alexandra Eala of Philippines celebrates winning match point against Iga Swiatek of Poland during their Ladies' Singles third round match on day six of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England, on July 4, 2026. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Rising star Alexandra Eala, 21, delivered a major upset to Polish defending champion and third seed Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon on July 4, becoming the first Filipino player, man or woman, to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

The 29th seeded Eala fell to her knees and rolled onto her back after converting her third match point on the grass court to win 7-6(9), 6-2, in almost 90 minutes.

“For someone who grew up in the Philippines … and … went to train with my brother and my grandfather everyday after school with my ruffled socks and my light-up shoes and my chubby cheeks—to her, this is everything,” Eala said in her on-court interview after the match while getting emotional.

She said that Wimbledon has always been her favorite tournament, even though she didn’t grow up playing on grass-courts but instead on a court with basketball lines painted over it.

She said that last season, when she lost in the opening round of her first Wimbledon appearance, was the first time in her career that she had competed in a grass-court season.

The left-hander—who was a scholarship recipient at the Rafa Nadal Academy from 2018-2023 where she trained under the style and philosophy of Spain’s iconic lefty Rafael Nadal—said that it would be an honor to be able to pave the way for young girls and inspire others.

“It’s incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on and knowing that, you know, we’re all in this together,” she said. “This goes out to them. This goes out to my family. This goes out to all the little girls with ruffled socks and chubby cheeks.”

Eala, who had previously never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam, made her breakthrough in the 2025 Miami Open where she also defeated Swiatek before losing to America’s Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

Eala will play Italy’s 13th-seeded Jasmine Paolini on Monday, July 6, for a chance to play in the quarterfinals.

For Swiatek, the loss marks the first time since early 2022 that the six-time Grand Slam winner does not hold at least one of the majors.

“It was … a tough match and I felt like Alexandra [Eala] was more brave in important moments [and] in the tiebreak,” she said in her post-match interview.

While being known best for her clay court dominance and her four French Open titles, Swiatek delivered an impressive run in last year’s Wimbledon, beating America’s Amanda Anisimova without dropping a game in the final to capture her first Wimbledon trophy.

Anisimova also got knocked out Saturday, losing to America’s Madison Keys 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, meaning the women’s final will feature two new faces this year.

Belarus’s First-seeded Aryna Sabalenka lost to Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-2, 7-6(2) on Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.