Alexandra Eala’s journey at Wimbledon came to an end on Monday with defeat to Jasmine Paolini.
The Filipina, seeded 29th at the event, rallied from 2-5 down in the first set on a bright, sunny day in south-west London.
However, Eala’s efforts were ultimately in vain, as she eventually fell to a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 defeat on Centre Court.
Eala has missed out on the opportunity to become only the second player from the Philippines to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in tennis history.
The only Filipino player to accomplish the feat did so over 70 years ago.
Meet Felicisimo Ampon
Felicisimo Ampon, born in Manila, the Philippines, is widely considered to be one of the greatest athletes in the nation’s history.
Ampon, who stood at only five foot three inches tall, represented the Philippines in the Davis Cup for almost 30 years and was the first Filipino to ever reach the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam.
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Ampon first reached the quarter-finals of a major at the 1952 French Open [then named the French Championships].
The Filipino defeated Paul Jalabert, Władysław Skonecki, Bernard Destremau, and Tony Trabert en route to the last eight in Paris.
There, he was beaten by Australia’s Ken McGregor: 1-6, 1-6, 2-6.
A year later, Ampon reached the same stage after defeating M. Zeppenfeldt, Xavier Perreau-Saussine, Grandet, and Budge Patty.
He was then beaten by Australian tennis legend, Ken Rosewall.
Ampon reportedly won over 200 trophies before his death in 1997.
“I couldn’t keep track of my father’s archives,” said Lito, one of Ampon’s sons, in an interview with positivelyfilipino.com.
“He competed with famous people, but he forgot many of them. He didn’t care about celebrities. All that mattered was his performance on the court.”
Felicisimo Ampon is the only Filipino player to win a trophy at Wimbledon
The Wimbledon Plate was a tennis tournament held for competitors who were defeated in the first or second rounds of the singles events.
The male event was held from 1886 to 1981, and the female tournament took place from 1933 to 1989.
In 1948, Felicisimo Ampon entered the competition after being defeated in the second round of the main event by Hans van Swol.
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Ampon went on to become the first and only Filipino player to win a Wimbledon trophy when he defeated Heraldo Weiss 11-9, 6-4 in the 1948 Wimbledon Plate final.
That year, America’s Bob Falkenburg won the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title and Louise Brough won the women’s event.
