Alexandra Eala was left star-struck by Iga Swiatek in 2023 after meeting the Pole at the Rafa Nadal Academy during her graduation ceremony, but the wild-card from the Philippines gave her idol no quarter at the Miami Open on Wednesday in a massive quarter-final upset.
The 19-year-old played the match of her life to beat world No. 2 Swiatek 6-2, 7-5, reacting with disbelief and nearly sobbing on court after claiming a place in her first WTA semi-final.
Eala had been reduced to a gushing fan in the presence of the Pole two years ago as she collected her certificate at the academy in Mallorca and she said it was a surreal experience to face her across the net.
Photo: AFP
“She was a guest speaker and celebrity guest,” Eala said of the graduation ceremony. “I thought I was super lucky to have her during my graduation. She just came off I think a Grand Slam win also, Roland Garros, if I remember correctly.”
“Then she even did the whole ceremony with the class, tossed the hat, and I was so lucky because I was beside her,” she said. “It’s super surreal to think that the circumstances have changed, I’m facing her on court.”
Eala, who made her WTA Tour debut in the Miami qualifying event in 2021, has sparkled on her return to the venue this year with wins over former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
Photo: AFP
She said she had been confident she could add Swiatek to her list of victims and become only the second wild-card to beat three or more major winners in a tour-level event after Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon in 2023.
“From the very beginning, I knew that I had the level to stick with her. She’s very decorated. She’s achieved a lot and is someone I’ve looked up to for a while,” Eala said. “It was a pleasure to share the court with her and to be able to compete with her and hang with her rhythm.”
“It’s something I’m very proud of,” added Eala, who will now become the first Filipina to be ranked in the top 100.
Photo: AFP
Later, Jessica Pegula stopped the string of upsets at the Miami Open by ending the stalwart run of Britain’s unseeded Emma Raducanu.
The fourth-seeded Pegula won 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 in a two hour, 25 minute battle to move into her third Miami Open women’s semi-final in four years.
Pegula, the last American in the field, was to play Eala yesterday.
Photo: Geoff Burke / Imagn Images
Pegula’s match ended at 11:23pm and forced the postponement of the men’s quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Sebastian Korda.
In a nearly three-hour, men’s quarter-final, a cramping, 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov barely survived the oppressive humidity to outlast No. 23 seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Dimitrov was led off the court by a tournament doctor and ATP physio after sitting in his chair for more than 25 minutes, saying he was feeling “dizzy.”
Dimitrov, a Miami Open finalist last year, saved a match point in the third set when trailing 5-6 before forcing a tiebreaker. He squandered seven set points in the opening set and lost the tiebreaker 6-4.
He faces the Djokovic-Korda winner in the quarter-finals.
The high seeds were falling earlier on Wednesday.
Soon after Eala stunned Swiatek, men’s top seed Alexander Zverev got bounced by No. 17 seed Arthur Fils of France, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a fourth-round men’s match postponed by rain.
Fils faces Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic in the quarters.
In the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the US$9,193,540 event, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China defeated Chinese pair Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4 to set up at semi-final against Russian duo Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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