MIAMI/WASHINGTON, March 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Alexandra Eala beat a Grand Slam champion for a third consecutive match at the Miami Open presented by Itau Wednesday afternoon. Just another day at the office, right? Think again.
The 19-year-old wild card from the Philippines, who began the WTA 1000 event ranked 140th, was already the highest-ranked Filipina in WTA Tour history. Now, after stringing together wins over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, 2025 Australian Open titlist Madison Keys and five-time major champion Iga Swiatek, four of her six tour wins have come at this year’s Miami event. Now, the left-handed-hitting Eala is through to the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event in South Florida – just one rung below a Grand Slam.
This fresh and relentless teenager from a country with more than 7,000 islands and 110 million inhabitants cannot be stopped.
“There is a lot of emotions, definitely. Happiness has to be on the top of the whole list,” said Eala, who won the 2022 US Open junior girls’ title, during her post-match news conference. “Yeah, and I just still haven’t had time to stop and think about it yet, but I’m super, super happy with the win.”
It truly is the Magic City. pic.twitter.com/wH5pjFSziE
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 26, 2025
When Eala secured match point against the World No. 2 Swiatek on Hard Rock Stadium, which gave her a 6-2, 7-5 victory in an hour and 39 minutes, Eala stood frozen – absorbing the significance of the moment – which left her in a state of shock, shedding tears.
“I think I was so in the moment, and I made it a point to be in the moment every point that it’s hard to realize what just happened,” the fearless Eala said. “It’s hard to realize that you won the match.
“I really tried to soak it all in, because this has never happened to me before, and that’s why I was looking at the screen. You know, I really wanted to keep that moment in my mind.”
Soon, Eala wrote on the camera lens following her milestone victory: “Miami, you have my ❤️.”
SHE’S ONLY GONE AND DONE IT!!!!!!!!
Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala stuns World No. 2 Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to reach the last 4 in Miami!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/xn1zNpck10
— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2025
As if Eala needed any additional motivation against Swiatek, her parents were in her box, having flown in from the Philippines Tuesday night, and an uncle and cousin flew down from Seattle, too. Plus, from her days of training at Rafael Nada’s academy, Uncle Toni Nadal witnessed her victory over Swiatek, too.
“I really wanted them to see me winning,” Eala said.
Eala, whose first serve barely exceeded 90 miles-per-hour, won just 52 percent (23 of 44) of her first-serve points and was broken five times in nine tries. However, she also broke Swiatek’s serve eight times in 10 service games, and outpointed her opponent 77-59. Swiatek hit 32 unforced errors to just 12 for Eala.
“She went all in,” Swiatek said during her post-match news conference of Eala. “She made these returns in and pretty long, and so it wasn’t easy to hit it back. She was pretty loosened up and just went for it.”
Eala in motion pic.twitter.com/SiWEp0h5dt
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 26, 2025
What did Eala think of playing in a large, 13,000-seat temporary venue inside Hard Rock Stadium? “I really tried to just focus on the court and feel like nobody else was there,” she said. “
One reporter described Eala’s play as “a precocious display of aggression and thoughtfulness,” and wrote that Eala “went for winners whenever she could, while mixing in just enough stylish drop shots and resilient defense to show that she was focused on every point, as she knew she needed to be.”
The victory lifted Eala into Thursday evening’s semifinals against World No. 4 and fourth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, who eliminated No. 60 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, in the quarterfinal round Wednesday evening.
“Complete disbelief right now, I’m on cloud nine”#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/VwkuwbJfyf
— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2025
Since the WTA rankings began in 1975, the Philippines has three Top-30 wins. Eala has all three of them. Looking ahead, don’t be surprised if she continues to add to her record total.
“I would love to think that I make a difference. You know, that’s the only thing I can do to give back to my country is to help inspire, to inspire change and positive change, to inspire people to pick up a racquet, to watch more tennis, watch more women’s tennis,” Eala said.
“I think that tennis in the Philippines has so much potential, because even though it’s not as widespread as other sports, I feel that we have a lot of hidden talent, and if we can have the support to back it up and the exposure to back it up, then I think that Philippine tennis can be a big thing.”
stop your scroll ✋
Alex Eala wants to thank you!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/MqprES0SsF
— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2025
By the numbers
Alexandra Eala is the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour-level semifinal. She’s just the second teen to win her first two Top-5 matches, joining Bianca Andreescu. Now, Eala guaranteed herself to become the first Filipina to be ranked inside the WTA Top next week. She’s up to World No. 75. Also, Eala is the third wild card to reach the semifinals in Miami, following Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018.
wild card
wild win#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/xFvzsBextv— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2025
“Quotable …”
“It’s so surreal. I feel like I’m the exact same person as I was in that photo. But of course, circumstances have changed! I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage. … My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can, because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win.”
– Alexandra Eala, 19, of the Philippines during her on-court interview after defeating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, to advance to the semifinal round. Eala was shown a photo of her graduation from the Rafa Nadal Academy, standing in between Nadal and Swiatek.
