Swiatek dumped out of Wimbledon by Eala, Serena withdraws from doubles

Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon title defence was ended by the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala in a third-round shock on Saturday, while “heartbroken” Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from the doubles tournament.

Kazakh second seed Elena Rybakina also crashed out, leaving the bottom half of the women’s singles draw wide open.

Swiatek slipped to a 7-6 (11/9), 6-2 defeat on Centre Court as 29th seed Eala reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

It is six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek’s earliest exit from a major tournament since another third-round defeat, by Yulia Putintseva, at Wimbledon two years ago.

Eala had already made history for the Philippines by becoming the first player from the Southeast Asian nation to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

“I’m really emotional and maybe for someone like Iga who has won so many Slams, or someone like Serena or Venus (Williams), this achievement might seem small,” Eala said.

“But for someone who grew up in the Philippines… I trained with my mother and my grandfather every day after school with ruffled socks and chubby cheeks… so this is everything.”