London
\nDefending 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\u2019s Centre Court on Tuesday.
\nCzech 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.
\nEala turned 20 in May and was making her first Wimbledon appearance, but she immediately looked at home in the daunting surroundings of the sport\u2019s most iconic court.
\nKrejcikova 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.
\nShe 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.
\nKrejcikova 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.
\nKrejcikova 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.
\nLightweight serve
\nWith Eala also starting to lose her radar and with her lightweight serve being punished, the champion swept to a 5-0 lead and took the set 6-2.
\nKrejcikova grabbed an early break in the third with pounding returns, and though Eala had an immediate breakback opportunity, she could not take it and quickly trailed 3-0.
\nIt was relatively straightforward from then, as a tired-looking Eala\u2019s error count rose and Krejcikova raced home in ever-more confident style. Krejcikova was quick to credit her opponent.
\n\u201cI mean, what the hell she played in the first set?\u201d she said. \u201cShe was smashing the ball and cleaning the lines, so wow, wow. She\u2019s going to be really good in a couple of years.\u201d
\nKrejcikova said she was \u201csuper happy\u201d to even be back to defend her title after a back injury ruled her out of the Australian Open and a thigh problem curtailed her grasscourt build-up.
\n\u201cDefinitely six months ago, I was in a lot of pain with my back, and I didn\u2019t really know how my career was going to go,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cSo I\u2019m super-excited that I can be here and that I can play and that I can play on such a great court.\u201d She said she also took time before the match to inspect the trophy, with her name engraved from last year.
\n\u201cI was definitely enjoying the moment,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving that opportunity, that I can see my name there and that I can see the trophy and that I can just enter such a beautiful court, such a beautiful venue – it\u2019s super, super special.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n