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Eala eyeing Wimbledon quarters, Dimitrov faces Fery / Photo: © AFP/File
Eala eyeing Wimbledon quarters, Dimitrov faces Fery
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.
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
-- Dimitrov is back in the fourth round, 12 months on from having to retire injured at the same stage against eventual champion Jannik Sinner, when leading by two sets.
The Bulgarian returned to the tour earlier this year but needed a wildcard to play at Wimbledon.
"I believe in destiny, but right now, we're just living in the moment," he said ahead of a tie with Britain's Arthur Fery.
"I think that's all I have been trying to do every single day when I get out there on the courts, whether I'm playing a match or not."
It will be the first meeting between two wildcards in the last 16 of a men's Grand Slam.
Fery is the last British singles player standing, after becoming the fifth man from the home nation to reach round four in the 21st century with an epic win over Zizou Bergs in the longest match of the tournament so far.
"Doing it here is incredibly special for me. It's my home tournament. It's where I grew up," said Fery, who went to school in Wimbledon.
Taylor Fritz (USA x6) v Alexander Bublik (KAZ x10)
Head-to-head 4-4
-- Fritz, a semi-finalist last year, faces a tricky assignment against colourful Kazakh Bublik on Court One.
Bublik was best known for his on-court outbursts and underarm serves before a run to the French Open quarter-finals last year.
He won four ATP titles in the space of three months afterwards, establishing himself in the world's top 15.
Bublik has been beaten in his last five meetings with big-serving American Fritz, a former US Open finalist who famously lost an epic Wimbledon quarter-final to an injured Rafael Nadal in 2022.
H.King--SFF
