World No. 2 Rybakina Crashes Out of Berlin After Shock Loss to Alexandra Eala
Alexandra Eala, first Filipino in the WTA top 50, beat Rybakina in Berlin after already taking out Queen’s Club winner Donna Vekic. The 21-year-old now meets world No. 8 Svitolina.
Eala stuns Rybakina 7-5, 6-4 in Berlin to reach first WTA quarterfinal...
World No. 2 Elena Rybakina was eliminated from the Berlin WTA warm-up for Wimbledon on Thursday, falling 7-5, 6-4 in the round of 16 to Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champ and current Australian Open title holder, came out firing and jumped to a 4-1 lead. But Eala battled back, breaking the Kazakh’s usually reliable serve twice to snatch the first set.
Eala, ranked 35th in the world, kept control in the second set. She broke the heavy favorite once and rode that to a huge upset win.
The 21-year-old Filipino got her revenge too. Rybakina had beaten her in straight sets on clay at the Italian Open back in May.
Eala, the first Filipino player ever to crack the top 50, is riding a hot streak. She opened in Berlin by knocking off Donna Vekic, who just won Queen’s Club.
Brilliant in Berlin 🌟
— wta (@WTA) June 18, 2026
Alex Eala continues to shine in her debut here, knocking out Rybakina in straight sets!#BTO26 pic.twitter.com/PwiKaPjy4I
She’ll meet world No. 8 Elina Svitolina next in the quarter-finals. Svitolina beat German Eva Lys 6-3, 6-2 earlier Thursday.
Other quarter-final matchups: top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces Nikola Bartunkova, No. 4 Jessica Pegula takes on Madison Keys, and Linda Noskova plays Paula Badosa.
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