WIMBLEDON – Defending champion Iga Swiatek and 29th seed Alexandra Iala completed their tasks on Thursday.
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As world No. 3 Swiatek, she dominated former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 in 70 minutes. As for Ila, the Filipina ousted Maya Joynt in the return match 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 in a rematch of the 2025 Eastbourne final.
Their next challenge will be each other.
Swiatek and Eala will meet for the third time on the WTA Tour under Mercedes-Benz in Saturday’s third round, but it will be their first time meeting on grass. They split their previous two matches, both on different surfaces.
“I think I’m going to have a hard time,” Ila told the press on Thursday. “I will also try to make it difficult for her. It’s a different surface than we’ve played on before, so I think there should definitely be some differences from last time.”
“She won a Grand Slam on grass. She won the Grand Slam on clay. She won a Grand Slam on hardcourt, so I’m expecting a big challenge.”
Let’s start with what the tennis world will probably remember – Ila’s 6-2, 7-5 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Miami Open. The teenage wild card, ranked 140th at the time, stunned the Grand Slam champion to become the first Filipina to reach the WTA semi-finals, and a few months later she became the first to reach the final of the Eastbourne 2025 tournament. Additionally, the 21-year-old is now the first Filipina to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
This victory brought attention to Ila’s name. Miami 2025 was her breakout tournament and the win over Swiatek was the icing on the cake before losing to Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals. At the time, it was also Ela’s second top-10 win and Swiatek’s third loss to a player outside the top 100 of the WTA main draw.
Just over a month later, Swiatek equalized against La Caja Mágica in the second round of Madrid, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Swiatek eventually reached the semi-finals, losing to Coco Gauff. Saturday will impact one player in the showdown, and both are up for the challenge.
“I don’t know much about her game on grass,” Swiatek told the press. “Obviously I can watch a little bit. I know how she plays because we’ve already played.
“She has a difficult game. I can imagine that it’s even more difficult on grass because of the surface. Of course she plays to her strengths, rhythm changes and all that. It will be a good test for me because she doesn’t give that rhythm.”
Swiatek beat Pliskova
The All England Club center court crowd saw two former No. 1s meet to start a three-match streak, with Swiatek now a perfect 4-0 against Pliskova in her career.
In their first meeting on grass, the current world number three dominated in just 70 minutes, winning 6-1, 6-3 in the second round, a stark contrast to her three-set first-round battle against Taylor Townsend, which left the Pole emotional after her victory.
“It was quite a lot,” Swiatek said of that first match. “It was like the opening match, as if everyone wanted to see it too. It was already a show, although it was only the first round. This is quite unusual.
“Today I felt like it was a normal day at the office. Of course it helped with preparation, focus and everything else.”
Swiatek beat Pliskova from the start with a double break. In the 25-minute first set, the six-time Grand Slam champion scored 26 of 35 points, and in the return game she received 7 of Pliskova’s 9 first serve points. Pliskova found some rhythm in the second round, making a break and grab early, but Swiatek prevailed to reach her sixth Wimbledon third round in seven matches.
Ila gets revenge for Eastbourne 2025 final
The meeting between JDC and Ila on Thursday was just over a year since their last and only meeting, the 2025 Eastbourne final. The championship match ended in a thrilling third set, with the Joint winning back four championship points in the tiebreaker – ultimately winning 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10) – while Ila was just two points away from victory at 5-4 to 6-5 in the third set.
For the Joint, the triumph was their second title in as many months after winning in Rabat, Morocco, but Eastbourne came as a surprise. The draw was much stronger, and Joint had convinced herself that grass was her least favorite surface. For Ila it was grief. Four chances to win his first WTA singles title, but the match just slipped away.
The two will go into a deciding third set again on Thursday after Joint and Ila easily won the first and second sets respectively. This time Eastbourne’s heartbreak will be partially salvaged as Ila will eliminate Joint, who leaves Wimbledon with a lifelong dream fulfilled after beating Serena Williams, in the final set to continue her best Wimbledon campaign to date.