ALEX EALA 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
— The Tennis Letter (@thetennisletter.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 9:58 AM
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The Wimbledon round of 16 is upon us, and one quarter of the draw is made up of Czech players--2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Muchova, Linda Noskova, and Marie Bouzkova. For now, the Czech Curse has been lifted (except, sadly, in the case of 2021 champion Marketa Vondrousova), and both Krejcikova and Muchova are healthy. Those two will also compete against each other in the round of 16, and that match has the potential to be a thing of beauty.
Krejcikova has been plagued with both injury and illness for a while, but she has finally gained some momemtum, and looks right at home on Wimbledon grass again. Surprisingly, she and Muchova have played each other only three times, and all of those matches were on clay. Krejcikova leads, 2-1, and it should be noted that they haven't played each other in eight years.
Linda Noskova's third round match against Sorana Cirstea turned into an edge-of-the-seat affair in the third set. Cirstea held a match point, but failed to convert it, then Noskova held two match points and didn't convert them. The set went to a tiebreak, which Noskova won 11-9. As for Bouzkova, she defeated Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a match that lasted almost three and a half hours.
The third round was big on drama. Noskova's just squeaking by Cirstea, and Bouzkova's hours-long extravaganza would have been enough--but there was more. 25th seed Elise Mertens upset 2nd seed and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina in straight sets. And then there was defending champion Iga Swiatek. Last year, just when a lot of people said that the five-time major champion was going downhill, she went to London and won Wimbledon.
This year was different, though, because Swiatek's descent felt more profound. The serve and the forehand, her bread-and-butter shots, just weren't there the way they used to be, and Swiatek often looked visibly spooked on the court. In her first round match against Taylor Townsend, the atmosphere was very tense. Swiatek won only one game in the first set, and she committed nine double-faults in the match. And after the world number 3 won the match, she began to cry. These were most likely tears of relief mixed with something else, but I'm not sure what.
Today, in the third round, Swiatek was up against rising star Alex Eala. And--as good as Eala is--Swiatek's serve and forehand "should" have helped her get past her opponent. It didn't happen that way. Eala won an 11-point tiebreak in the very long and tense first set, and--instead of wilting in the second set--she won it 6-2. All credit to Eala for holding her nerve and playing consistently well, but something is definitely wrong in the Swiatek camp.
There was better news for 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini, who has struggled quite a bit in the last several months. Today, the Italian player defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets. And Marta Kostyuk, whose clay season was spectacular, has also made it to the second week of Wimbledon, as has Madison Keys, who defeated countrywoman and 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimoa.
25% is impressive, but players from the USA dominate even more in the round of 16. In addition to Keys, third round winners included Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Iva Jovic, and qualifier Ashlyn Krueger. Gauff's match was of special interest because her countrywoman (and 2017 junior Wimbledon champion), Claire Liu, took a set off of her in a tiebreak.
Here is the round of 16 draw:
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v. Naomi Osaka (14)
Karolina Muchova (10) v. Barbora Krejcikova
Jessica Pegula (4) v. Iva Jovic (16)
Belinda Bencic (11) v. Coco Gauff (7)
Ashlyn Krueger (Q) v. Marta Kostyuk (12)
Jasmine Paolini (13) v. Alexandra Eala (29)
Madison Keys (26) v. Linda Noskova (9)
Marie Bouzkova (21) v. Elise Mertens (25)
