There was a special accoutrement adorning Filipina star Alex Eala’s hair as she walked onto Centre Court for her first round Wimbledon debut against defending champion Barbora Krejcikova.
The white flower, whilst in keeping with Wimbledon’s horticultural backdrop, has a special significance.
The sampaguita is the national flower of the Philippines, where world No 56 Eala is from.
But it is its significance that shows how much she lives and breathes by it, that has won the hearts of many more fans today despite her loss.
Explosive shot-making
Day 2, traditionally known as ‘Ladies Day’ on Wimbledon’s Centre Court opened with world No 16 Barbora Krejcikova being pushed out of her comfort zone by Alex Eala, who took the first set with a dominant display of explosive leftie shot-making and impressive footwork.
Whilst the defending champion from the Czech Republic managed to navigate her way through to eventual to victory, Eala made Krejcikova work hard for her victory in three sets (3-6, 6-1, 6-1).
The two had never faced each other before.
Krejcikova’s year has been tough, beset with injuries and a lack of match practice.
Conversely, 20-year-old Eala’s confidence has grown, thanks to a year with victories over top-10 players, and more recently, reaching the final at Eastbourne in her pre-Wimbledon grass warm-up.
Eala remains the highest-ranked Filipino player in WTA tour history, and the first from her country to reach the top 100 in WTA rankings.
‘So special’
At her post-match press conference, Alex Eala spoke of the significance of the sampaguita, gifted to her by her sponsor Nike.
“This is so special for me. First of all, to just have something that reminds me of where I come from, of my country, and my culture out there on court, because I feel like that’s what makes me special is where I come from.”
She explained the flower’s symbolism, as mentioned in her recent Instagram post.
“It’s kind of you reap what you sow or what’s sown will be reaped. That was kind of the whole message was to have something, a piece of home with me on such an iconic court, yeah”.
Highlighting Eala’s recent progress and some positive takeaways from this match, Amisha Savani asked Eala for her thoughts moving forward.
Eala replied that she would reflect on her game, and identify aspects that could be improved.
“I think we’ll take a look back at it, and we’ll identify those things. My coach probably already knows what those things are. Yeah, and then I can focus on moving forward”.
Despite her first round exit, Eala has much to be proud about.
She is the embodiment of the sampaguita. The seeds that were sown today will no doubt reap their rewards in due course.
Amisha Savani is reporting exclusively from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon for The South African.
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