Wild card Alexandra Eala has gone from virtual unknown to a 19-year-old upset queen in the span of a week.
She recorded her biggest upset Wednesday with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over second-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open — her first-career WTA semifinal.
The 140th-ranked Eala outplayed the five-time Grand Slam champion after earlier dismissing Australian Open champion Madison Keys from the event.
Eala will face fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula in the semifinals after the South Florida resident beat Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 Wednesday night.
Eala converted 8 of 10 break points in the quarterfinal match while notching the biggest win of her short career, becoming the first Filipina ever to reach the semifinals of a WTA Tour event. Swiatek, meanwhile, had 32 unforced errors.
“My coach told me to run and go for every ball and take all the opportunities I can because a five-time Grand Slam championship is not going to give you the win,” Eala said in an on-court interview.
After knocking out Swiatek, a picture was circulating on social media from when Eala graduated from the Rafael Nadal Academy on the island of Mallorca in Spain in 2023.
To Eala’s right was Nadal. To her left was Swiatek.
“Circumstances have changed,” Eala said in a surreal tone. “I’m so happy and blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage.”
She will face another top player on Thursday, as Pegula has won 12 of her past 13 matches.
Pegula got the lone service of the first set against Raducanu to go up 3-2, then later converted her third set point. Raducanu led 5-2 in the second set before squandering four set points and winding up in a tiebreaker, but she still managed to level the match.
Pegula won the first three games of the final set and cruised to the finish.
In five prior appearances at the Miami Open, Pegula reached the semifinals twice but never advanced further.
“I love playing here, I love playing at home, I love getting wins in the Dolphins’ stadium,” she said. Eala noted that she always plays “really well here,” adding that “I’m hoping the third time’s the charm.
“I want to make it to that final so bad, and I’ll give it another shot (Thursday) night.”
–Field Level Media
