MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – MARCH 26: Iga Swiatek of Poland meets Alexandra Eala of the Philippines after shedding to her on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Onerous Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello/Getty Photographs/AFP (Picture by AL BELLO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Photographs by way of AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala’s dream run within the 2025 Miami Open continues, slaying one champion after one other.
And within the largest match of her younger profession, Eala was unfazed in opposition to World No.2 and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek to tug off one other large win, 6-2, 7-5, and advance to the semifinal on Thursday (Manila time).
READ: Alex Eala knocks world No. 2 Iga Swiatek out of Miami Open
In line with the Girls’s Tennis Affiliation, Eala has tied one of the best consequence achieved by a wild card within the Miami Open because the match’s inception in 1985.
The Filipino tennis sensation was solely the second wild card to get three consecutive wins over Grand Slam champions at a single WTA occasion.
wild card
wild win#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/xFvzsBextv— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2025
Even the 19-year-old couldn’t imagine how she outplayed the Polish star, a former world No.1 with 22 profession titles.
“It’s so surreal as a result of I really feel like I’m the very same person who I used to be in that photograph. However in fact, circumstances have modified and I’m simply so comfortable and I’m so blessed to have the ability to compete with a such a participant on this stage,” mentioned Eala after beating the visitor of honor throughout her commencement at Rafael Nadal Academy.
“My coach instructed me to run, to go for each ball, take all of the alternatives I can as a result of five-time Grand Slam champion shouldn’t be gonna provide the win.”
READ: Alex Eala: Philippines’ smash hit on path towards tennis stardom
From a wild card in her WTA 1000 debut within the 2021 Miami Open, Eala has made nice strides making her first semifinal look within the match.
She grew to become the primary Filipino to succeed in the semis of a WTA 1000 match and take down a prime two participant because the WTA Tour rankings for ladies’s tennis had been revealed in 1975.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – MARCH 26: Alexandra Eala of the Philippines reacts at match level after defeating Iga Swiatek of Poland on Day 9 of the Miami Open at Onerous Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello/Getty Photographs/AFP (Picture by AL BELLO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Photographs by way of AFP)
Extra importantly, Eala has but to drop a set within the match.
The Filipino prodigy bought her first Miami Open predominant draw win after taking down World No.73 Katie Voleynets, 6-3, 7-6 (3) within the Spherical of 128.
READ: Alex Eala takes care of enterprise at Miami Open with little drama
She took down the World No. 25 and 2017 French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 triumph and pulled off a 6-4, 6-2 upset of the WTA No. 5 Madison Keys within the Spherical of 32.
Eala didn’t break a sweat in advancing to the quarterfinals after Spain’s Paula Badosa was compelled to withdraw from their fourth-round match because of a decrease again harm.
Even Swiatek, top-of-the-line gamers on this planet, couldn’t cease Eala’s Cinderalla story within the Miami Open because the Filipino rising star continues to show heads and make a mark.
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“I don’t know what to say. I’m in full simply disbelief proper now and I’m on cloud 9 so thanks all people who got here to observe, and because of everybody who’s watching from dwelling,” she mentioned. “It’s without end in my coronary heart.”
Eala, at present World No.140, is anticipated to enter the highest 100 no matter the results of her Miami Open marketing campaign after proving that she will be able to compete in opposition to the world’s finest tennis athletes.
