Saturday 4 July 2026 will be remembered as the day Wimbledon's women's draw was turned upside down. In the space of a few hours on the lawns of the All England Club, two of the top-three seeds — Iga Swiatek (3) and Elena Rybakina (2) — were sent packing in the third round, leaving the draw wide open and the tennis world scrambling for its breath. The architects of this destruction were Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Elise Mertens of Belgium: two players who refused to respect the script.
Eala Dethrones Swiatek: History Made for the Philippines
Alexandra Eala arrived at Wimbledon 2026 as a 29th seed and the first Filipino player ever seeded at a Grand Slam. She left Saturday's Centre Court session as the first Filipino to reach the second week of a Grand Slam in history — after eliminating the defending champion and world number three, Iga Swiatek, 7-6(9), 6-4. (WTA Tennis)
The opening set was an hour-and-a-half masterpiece. Swiatek, who had won this title before and owns four Roland Garros trophies, started the tie-break in control, but Eala refused to let the moment overwhelm her. She saved match point after match point from Swiatek's side of the story, forced the tie-break into uncharted territory, and finally claimed it 11-9 — a scoreline that captures how little separated these two players for almost two hours. Eala played the kind of tennis that draws comparisons not to 29th seeds but to champions.
The second set might have been Swiatek's moment to reset, and for a period it was. She recovered from a 4-0 deficit to close within striking distance, saved two match points, and made the crowd at Centre Court genuinely believe she could turn the match. But Eala, whose baseline hitting and serve had already proved elite-level on grass, sealed the victory on her third match point — composed, exact, and almost eerily calm for a 21-year-old with the weight of an entire nation on her racket.
"This win is for her — for the younger version of me who dreamed about this," Eala said after the match. "For her, this is everything." (GMA News)
The victory was Eala's seventh career Top-10 win, and statistically her biggest by ranking. It also confirmed that her run in Wimbledon 2026 is no accident: she has played with controlled aggression, excellent net instincts, and a serve that regularly tops 180 km/h on grass. She is through to the round of 16, and given what the draw now looks like, the question of how far she can go is very real.
Mertens Eliminates Rybakina: Second Seed Falls Before Final Whistle
Just when the dust from Eala's win had barely settled, Belgium's Elise Mertens added an equally dramatic headline to the afternoon. The 25th seed dismantled second seed Elena Rybakina — the 2022 Wimbledon champion and one of the pre-tournament favourites — with a remarkably clinical display, winning 7-6, 6-1. (CBS Sports)
Rybakina's game, built around a thunderous serve and a flat, heavy backhand, had been expected to flourish on Wimbledon's fast surfaces. Instead, Mertens neutralised her weapons with smart positioning, mixed pace brilliantly to disrupt Rybakina's timing, and once she broke through the first-set tie-break, she turned the match into a rout. The second set, won 6-1, was a statement of total dominance from a player who many had overlooked in the draw previews.
The back-to-back eliminations of Rybakina and Swiatek — the tournament's second and third seeds — in the same afternoon session represent the biggest single day of upsets in the women's draw since Wimbledon 2022, when the rankings were scrambled by the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players. This time, it is purely sporting upheaval.
What Does an Open Draw Mean for the Final Week?
With Swiatek and Rybakina both out, the title conversation at Wimbledon 2026 now surrounds a genuinely open field. Aryna Sabalenka (1) remains alive and is the presumptive new favourite, but she has to negotiate a draw that now includes an in-form Eala, a resurgent Mertens, and Jasmine Paolini (13) — who also advanced on Saturday with a convincing win over Maria Sakkari.
Eala's potential path to a semi-final is no longer a fantasy. The Filipina has the ball-striking, the competitive temperament, and — crucially — the confidence that only comes from beating the defending champion in the biggest match of your life. The women's draw at Wimbledon 2026 is no longer about who stops Swiatek. It is an open competition, and it starts now.
Follow Malaab Al-An for full coverage of Wimbledon 2026 — every result, every upset, and every story from the All England Club.