LIKE a Sampaguita, Alexandra “Alex” Eala will bloom to the fullest soon.

That is the assurance made by no less than reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova on the 20-year-old Filipina sensation after their hard-fought Round 1 duel in London the other day.

“Wow, it’s the next generation coming. She’s going to come up and she’s going to be really good in a couple of years,” said Ms. Krejcikova, who hacked out a gutsy 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Ms. Eala to dodge and upset en route to the next round.

Ms. Eala, an unseeded first-timer in Wimbledon and at centercourt against the champion at that, wore a Sampaguita hair tie from Nike in the said match in honor of the country’s national flower.

And she came so close to fulfilling a tribute for the ages after snatching the first set from world No. 16 and six-time Grand Slam champion Ms. Krejcikova.

“I would like to start by giving credit to Alex (Eala). What the hell she played in the first set. She was smashing the ball and she was cleaning the lines and all that.  Big, big credit to her,” added the 29-year-old Czech.

Ms. Eala, WTA No. 56, delved down deeper on the tribute during the WTA post-match interview after becoming the first Filipina in history to have ever played in the Wimbledon main draw. She also made the feat in the French Open.

“This was so special for me. First of all, just to have something that reminds me where I come from, of my country and my culture out there on court. That’s what makes me special. It’s where I come from which is obviously everything in how I play and fight,” smiled the unbowed Ms. Eala, as she looks forward to the next Grand Slam stints.

“The flower in the hair was an idea of Nike and the whole idea behind it is you reap what you sow — what sown will be reaped. The whole message was to have a piece of home in such an iconic court.”

Nike gifted the hair tie to Ms. Eala following her first-ever WTA finals appearance — also the first for the Philippines — in the Lexus Eastbourne Open last week and ahead of her historic Wimbledon stint.

“The sampaguita: delicate, radiant, resilient, is more than the Philippines’ national flower. It’s strength. It’s a belief. It’s home. And today, you carry it with you. Every dream begins as a seed. ‘Kung may tinanim, may aanihin.’ (And what you plant, you’ll one day reap),” stated the renowned sneaker brand.

“Over the last decade, you’ve planted it all — the hours, the grind, the quiet resolve. And now, here you are, a Filipina on the grass courts of history. Not just playing for herself, but carrying a nation in full bloom. All yours.”

Ms. Eala will have a chance to do it in the Wimbledon doubles slated today by partnering with WTA No. 61 Eva Lys of Germany against the duo of Olga Danilovic (WTA No. 37) of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova (WTA No. 44) of Russia. — John Bryan Ulanday