Defending champ Krejcikova recovers to edge Eala in three sets at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON -- Given their form coming in, Barbora Krejcikova View Profile and Alexandra Eala View Profile couldn’t have been on more different trajectories.
Krejcikova, the defending Wimbledon champion and No. 17 seed, missed the first five months of 2025 with a back injury and had to withdraw from this week's Eastbourne quarterfinals citing a thigh injury. She was a modest 3-4 in 2025 since returning from a debilitating back injury.
Eala, still a teenager, leaped into the public consciousness back in March by beating three former Grand Slam champions -- Jelena Ostapenko View Profile , Madison Keys View Profile and Iga Swiatek View Profile -- in Miami. At the age of 20, last week she won six matches, including qualifying, to reach the final in Eastbourne before losing to Maya Joint View Profile -- 12-10 in a third-set tiebreak.
But as Tuesday’s match progressed, muscle memory seemed to take over and Krejcikova regained her groove on the grass, defeating Eala 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
A clean backhand down the line to finish it left Krejcikova -- fist aloft -- roaring in triumph. She now has 14 match-wins at Wimbledon, more than any other Grand Slam.
“The result I achieved last year is definitely helping,” Krejcikova told reporters. “I feel good. It’s tough because sometimes you just feel stronger in your head. I’m obviously just very, very happy today was the day where I was really mentally there.
“I was fighting for every single ball, and the match turn around. Yeah, at the end I was the one that was lifting up the arms.”
Before the tournament began, Krejcikova was reunited with the Venus Rosewater Dish, the trophy she won here nearly a year ago. Now, it appears, she’ll have a chance to regain it.
At the outset, things didn’t look quite so rosy.
With Krejcikova serving at 2-3 in the first set, Eala broke through on the strength of a backhand winner. Playing only the second Grand Slam main draw of her young career, she made that stand up by taking better care of her serve and hitting fewer unforced errors than Krejcikova.
But the defending champion came screaming back, taking a 5-0 lead in the second set and eventually forcing a decider.
Down 1-0 and facing her second break point, Eala didn’t do enough with an approach shot and couldn’t handle the subsequent volley. In the final analysis, Krejcikova -- an accomplished doubles player -- was better at the net. She won eight of 13 points, while Eala was only 2-for-9.
“I think in the first set I was able to kind of like dominate her a little bit in certain moments,” Eala said. “Then in the next two sets, I think she really did kind of step up. She was hitting quite close to the line, which she was doing kind of consistently. Partly I guess because I wasn’t making her uncomfortable maybe or also because obviously she’s very skillful.
“Credit is due. Give credit where credit is due. And obviously I just need to look at my side and what I need to improve going on.”