To be a left-hander is to be a player apart. Assumed to possess innate grace and style, they are instantly placed in a separate aesthetic category.

It is also that they are extremely rare in the current tennis landscape. There is no active left-handed Major singles champion among men or women, with the last being Marketa Vondrousova here at Wimbledon in 2023.

Enter Alexandra Eala. The 21-year-old from the Philippines has a long way to go before she can whet the fans’ appetite for a champion southpaw, but her 7-6(9), 6-2 third-round triumph over defending champion and World No. 3 Iga Swiatek on Centre Court on Saturday was an incredible show of her simmering potential.

“I went to train every day after school with my ruffled socks, light-up shoes and chubby cheeks,” a teary-eyed Eala said on court.

“It is incredible to have my countrymen cheering me on. This goes out to them, my family and all the girls with ruffled socks and chubby cheeks. It means the world.”

Eala is an unlikely tennis player. She comes from a nation where basketball and boxing are the most popular sports, with Manny Pacquiao — one of the greatest boxers ever — a National hero.

Eala, in fact, stated that she grew up on a court that alternated between basketball and tennis, and she “couldn’t really step back a lot because then I would hit the basketball hoop”.

The victory over Swiatek, however, was no bolt from the blue. An early glimpse of her immense talent came last year in Miami, where she made a glorious dash to the semifinal while ranked No. 140.

She beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys, and the then No. 2 Swiatek consecutively, before losing a tough three-setter to No. 4 Jessica Pegula.

Now, after her third straight success over a top-10 player, with Elina Svitolina and Elena Rybakina on the Berlin grass last month the other two, she is set to better her career-best ranking of No. 29.

Coincidentally, after Eala’s win over Swiatek, a video from 2023 circulated over the internet where the former was presented with her graduation diploma from the Rafa Nadal Academy with the latter as the guest of honour.

Little would Eala have imagined that she would one day best Swiatek on the grandest of stages, and at a time when the Pole is being coached by Francisco Roig, who was part of Nadal’s team for all 22 Major singles titles.