Krejcikova gets title defence off to stuttering start
LONDON - Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova survived a stiff examination from promising 20-year-old Filipina Alexandra Eala before finding her groove to triumph 3-6 6-2 6-1 on her return to Wimbledon's Centre Court on Tuesday.
Czech Krejcikova, a shock winner as 31st seed last year and seeded 17th this time, came into the tournament short on form after a succession of injuries and initially had no answer to the confident, free-swinging Eala, who is the first woman from the Philippines to play at Wimbledon.
Anyone watching the first set without any knowledge of the players' background would have been hard-pressed to identify who was the defending champion and who was the Centre Court debutant.
Eala turned 20 in May and was making her first Wimbledon appearance but she immediately looked at home in the daunting surroundings of the sport's most iconic court with an impressive opening service game.
Krejcikova forced the first break in the third game, however, Eala hit straight back, swinging her lefty forehand freely and throwing in a beautifully disguised drop shot.
She then upped the ante, holding confidently and breaking again as her two-fisted backhand came to the fore and, from 2-1 down with a break against, Eala reeled off four games in a row.
Krejcikova struggled to find any consistency and was not helped by five first-set double faults and very cautious shot choices.
The champion just about held serve after six deuces but Eala was not to be denied and served out to take the first set.
Krejcikova, who won the French Open in 2021, looked as if she had had a physical and mental reboot for the second set where she showed much more energy and found her serving range.
With Eala also starting to lose her radar and with her lightweight serve being punished, the champion swept to a 5-0 lead, though the youngster showed impressive grit to keep at it, before losing it 6-2.
Krejcikova, though, was in the ascendancy, grabbing an early break with pounding returns and though Eala had a breakback opportunity, she could not take it and quickly trailed 3-0.
It was relatively straightforward from then, as a tired-looking Eala's error-count rose and Krejcikova raced home in confident style. REUTERS
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