Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala, 19 year old girl has achieved one of the biggest milestones in WTA season by defeating world number two Iga Swiatek in straight sets (6-2, 7-5) at the Miami Open quarter finals. She has recorded her third win over a Grand Slam champion in one week, having defeated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and Australian Open reigning champion Madison Keys as well.
In spite of the historic win, Eala was surprisingly composed, celebrating in a calm manner before going through with her post match obligations. “I was so in the moment that it’s hard to realize what just happened,” she stated.
140th in the world and entered as a wildcard, Eala’s ride has been nothing less than remarkable. Prior to Miami, she had only managed to win a single match in five WTA 1000 appearances. Her strict mentality is a result of years of preparation at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca where she has developed her mental toughness.
With her big win over Swiatek, Eala became the first Filipina to beat a top 10 player. Now facing Jessica Pegula or Emma Raducanu in the semi finals, she dreams that her history-making stint inspires youth athletes from the Philippines.
As she enters the top 100 on the world tennis ranking for the first time ever, one fact is certain that Alexandra Eala has joined the biggest tennis club internationally.
