Things get no easier for Maya Joint at Wimbledon, and her stature as the Wimbledon villain is unlikely to change as she goes from playing Serena Williams to Alex Eala.
After all, having had to play against the legend herself as well as an entire stadium that was pulling for her, the 20-year-old did remarkably well to steady herself, control those emotions and clinically dispatch the American.
And yet, for her troubles, the Aussie has been gifted the opportunity to face a player who promises even more staunch support from her fanbase, with the Filipinos certain to pack out Court 3 to watch a rematch of last year’s Eastbourne International final.
Alexandra Eala will be desperate for revenge, having squandered three championship points before losing the match.
Martina Navratilova has been previewing this clash, and has one big hope for it that should benefit both players.
Martina Navratilova previews Alex Eala’s match vs Maya Joint
Speaking to Tennis Channel, in reference to Eala’s dramatic Eastbourne defeat to Joint, Navratilova admitted: “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t go to that [another third set breaker] because I think both players will lose their minds if it goes that long. But, yeah, we have something to look forward to.
“I mean, it’s gonna be hard for Maya to come back from that situation, but that’s going to be so much atmosphere with Eala playing with all the Philippine fans. What a win that one in Eastbourne and we get a replay.”
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This prompted Prakash Amitraj to praise Eala’s performances on the grass, suggesting that this surface masks some of her weaknesses which can be exploited in other conditions.
Jim Courier then offered his verdict on Joint’s mental toughness: “I like for Maya Joint, I like the fact that she’ll be going into that cauldron of excitement with the fans, because coming out of Centre Court and that level of intensity, you go play on a small court with not a lot of energy, you might fall flat. I don’t think those fans are gonna let her fall flat.
“She’s gonna have to react to when she loses a point, there’s gonna be chaos out there. A good kind of chaos, a positive fanbase supporting her opponent, but that’s gonna keep that’s like caffeine for a player.”
Navratilova echoed that sentiment, adding: “I mean, tip of the hat to Maya for handling this situation as well as she did considering where she’s been this year and in her career to deal with that, walking behind Serena Williams to get on the court, and then being able to play her best tennis that she has this year.”
She then finished by sharing whether she felt Court 3, which boasts a capacity of just 2,000, will be enough to satisfy Filipino demand to see Eala.
Navratilova argued: “It’s a good court. Very intimate. And it’s gonna be noisy.”
Joint has already predicted what she thinks will happen in her match against Eala. It will be intriguing to see whether her premonition comes to life.
Alex Eala’s career record on grass
Eala may still be relatively new to the WTA Tour, but she has still managed to get a considerable amount of reps in on the grass during this time.
She clearly favours it, and due to the shortness of this swing, is keen to maximise it as best she can.
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Few will have played as many tournaments this campaign on this surface as Eala did, having featured in Birmingham, Queen’s, Berlin and Bad Homburg all before Wimbledon.
As such, she currently boasts a record of ten wins and just three losses, an improvement on the 10/5 she managed last year.
Also, her 68% career win rate on grass is her best across any surface.
