Maya Joint proved against Alex Eala that Joint's victory against Serena Williams in the first round of Wimbledon was truly impressive. Joint is for real. She isn't going to win the grass-court major this year, but maybe one year she will.
To begin her second-round match against Eala, the 20-year-old Australian was a wall of defense. The Filipina appeared to have no answer for how to get groundstrokes through or around the Aussie. Joint also appeared to hit with more force than she did against Williams.
Maybe the defeat of the tennis legend is what she needs to carve out a wonderful career of her own. She isn't going to back down from any player or situation at this point, and Eala was learning that lesson, too.
Alex Eala overcomes Maya Joint in the second round of Wimbledon 2026
In the opening set, Joint didn't face a break point, but consistently pressed Eala on her serve, including breaking the Filipina twice. The Australian won the set 6-3 and had 13 winners and just seven unforced errors.
What Joint had to guard against was the same issue that happened in the Williams match. The Aussie could play at exceedingly high levels, but she also could dip in form for long stretches. Or, if her opponent raised their level, Joint could match it.
In the second set, Joint struggled to land her first serve at the beginning, which eventually put her under great duress. She had to fight off several break opportunities from Eala, but she lost her serve in game three. While every game for both players remained tense, Eala was trending toward evening the match with a second-set victory, which she would earn 6-2.
Heading into the third set, Eala had all the momentum. Joint had even tried to shorten her swing in reaction to Eala's easy power. While games went deep and stayed tight, Eala was winning far more of the longer rallies and dictating the narrative of the match.
The third set got fairly ugly for Maya Joint. She kept losing form, being broken four times in succession dating back to the second set. She couldn't make inroads on Eala either, as the Filipina was growing in confidence with every game. The question became where Joint would even win a game in the final set. The answer was no, as Eala took the third set 6-0.
Alex Eala will next face a terrifically difficult match in the third round of Wimbledon. She will play defending champion Iga Swiatek. If the Filipina can get past that match, she might be set up for a deep run at the grass-court major.
