MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala scored a historic main draw win, taking down world No. 73 Katie Volynets of the USA, 6-3, 7-6(3), in the opening round of the 2025 Miami Open yesterday.
Eala, WTA No. 140, shrugged off a flat 1-3 start, blanked Volyets the rest of the way in the first set and roared on to crack the Round of 64.
The 19-year-old Filipina sensation will next test her mettle against world No. 5 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who gained a bye in the Round of 128 as a top-ranked player.
Eala, playing in her first Miami Open main draw campaign after multiple exits in the qualifiers, showed jitters against the 23-year-old home bet, staring at an early two-game deficit.
But she was quick to adjust and recover, breaking Volynets’ multiple serves while holding her own.
Also on Day 1, Emma Raducanu claimed her first win, defeating 19-year-old wild card Sayaka Ishii of Japan 6-2, 6-1 in just 65 minutes.
The 2021 US Open champion will face eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro in the second round, her first meeting with a top 10 player since losing to Iga Swiatek in the Australian Open third round.
“It’s going to be an extremely challenging match,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “She’s probably in better form, so I can go out and express myself and try and compete for every point.”
American Sofia Kenin won a battle of two former Grand Slam champions when she defeated Czech Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-5.
Kenin will now face compatriot and world No. 3 Coco Gauff in the second round.
In the men’s draw, Australian Nick Kyrgios won his first match since 2022 as he fought back from a set down to beat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.