Alexandra Eala continued her remarkable run at the Miami Open on Thursday with a shock straight sets win over world No.2 Iga Swiatek.
The 140th-ranked Philippine was not overwhelmed by the significance of the occasion and held her ground en route to an impressive 6-2, 7-5, win. Moving into the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 event for the first time at the age of 19. Eala is only the third female player to reach the last four in Miami as a wild card since its inception in 1985. The others to do so were Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018.
“I don’t know what to say,” Eala said during her on-court interview.
“I’m just in disbelief right now. I’m on cloud nine, so thank you to Everybody who came to watch and thanks to everyone who’s watching from home.”
Just two years ago Eala graduated from the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain which she moved to at the age of 13. Coincidentally Swiatek was the person who presented Eala her certificate at the graduation ceremony. They later had a photo taken together along with Rafael Nadal.
“It’s so surreal because I feel like I’m the exact same person that I was in that photo,” she said.
“But of course, circumstances have changed. I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this, on this stage.”
It is an unprecedented rapid rise for Eala in Miami who entered the tournament with just two main draw Tour-level wins to her name. A former US Open girls champion, she has stunned the draw with Swiatek being the third Grand Slam champion she has beaten in under a week. Her other two victories were against Jelena Ostapenko and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys. Keys was the first top-five player she had played. The last player to beat a trio of major champions as a wild card at the same event was Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon.
As a reward for her success, she is set to rocket up the WTA rankings to at least 75th in the world.
“I don’t think I’ve processed what I’ve just done,” she said during an interview with Sky Sports Tennis.
“But in the end, I’m still the same player I was two weeks ago. So it’s weird because so much has changed and nothing really changes.
“That’s not something you really think about coming in that you’re going to beat slam champions but I believe that every time before the match. The same with today and the same with the next time.”
Eala appears to be fearless on the court and even questions about her leg having strapping fails to faze her as she takes it all in her stride.
“It’s normal that at this point in the tournament, the players are gonna get some discomfort physically. I have to learn to deal with it. It’s part of toughness but in the end, I worked for it. I’ve prepared and I’m ready.” She concluded.
