Alex Eala’s Miami Open dream run continues

MANILA, Philippines — Not once, not twice, but thrice in a row for “Alexandra The Great.”

Alex Eala sustained her unbelievable run, knocking off a Grand Slam champion for a third straight time with a mind-boggling 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Polish superstar Iga Swiatek to reach the semifinal round of the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida yesterday.

The Filipina giant-slayer added her idol Swiatek, world No. 2 and five-time major winner, to her list of victims after dispatching earlier 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko (world No. 25) of Latvia and 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys (No. 5) of the United States.

A wildcard entry in the WTA 1000 event, Eala stretched her history-making run and entered the Last Four versus world No. 4 Jessica Pegula with straight-sets conquest of Swiatek in 97 minutes.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m in complete disbelief right now. I’m on cloud nine,” said Eala, speechless and breathless for a moment after Swiatek hit long on match point.

“It’s so surreal. My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win.”

Up next for Eala at 8:30 a.m. today (Manila time) is home bet Pegula, who scored a gutsy 6-4, 6(3)-7, 6-2 win over Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu in their own quarterfinal match.

Eala could soar to greater heights with a potential ticket to the final, two years after her graduation at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain where Swiatek served as the keynote speaker.

Only 19 years old and rungs below her Goliath opponents in the WTA rankings, Eala has made the unbelievable believable, becoming the first Filipino to beat three major champions and three Top-25 players in a single tournament.

She’s also the first Filipino WTA semifinalist and is on track to becoming the first Filipino in history to barge into the Top 100 with a live ranking of No. 75.

In the entire tennis world, the lefty wunderkind was just the second wildcard to defeat three or more Grand Slam champions in a single Tour-level event after Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon in 2023.

Eala has also replicated the feats of Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018 as the only wildcard semifinalist in women’s tour history.

And Eala did it all without yielding a single set, none bigger than a domination of Swiatek that guaranteed her a purse of $332,160 or over P19 million.

Swiatek broke Eala in the first game, but the teenager broke right back. The first two games took 15 minutes to play and she never lost her poise.

“I don’t have a lot of experience on the WTA Tour, that’s for sure, but I do have experience with compartmentalizing,” Eala said. “I have experience with being professional. I have no hesitation to bring that part of me out when I’m on court.”

Swiatek held serve just twice in the match, with Eala pounding service returns with her big forehand. It marked Swiatek’s third loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 in a WTA main draw.

“Her being a lefty didn’t surprise me, but for sure, like, she went all in,” Swiatek said. “She made these returns in and pretty long, and so it wasn’t easy to hit it back. She was pretty loosened up and just went for it.”

Overall, Eala broke Swiatek’s serves eight times to prevail over her fellow RNA graduate in front of legendary coach Toni Nadal, uncle and mentor of Rafael, who witnessed the historic duel from Eala’s box.

“We are extremely proud of you, Alex. What an incredible tournament! Let’s keep dreaming,” said the “King of Clay” Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner.