A.K.S. Satish
Filipino teenager Alexandra Eala created waves at the Miami Open last month, knocking out some of the sport’s biggest names to reach the semi-finals. Her sensational run earned her a spot in the WTA Top 100 — the first Filipino woman ever to achieve the feat.
The 19-year-old surged from No 140 to No 75 following her Miami heroics. And without even swinging her racquet this week, she climbed two more places to No 73, thanks to the latest rankings released on Monday.
Eala, who entered the Miami Open as a wild card, pulled off three stunning upsets — beating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, reigning Australian Open winner Madison Keys, and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek — to storm into the semi-finals.
In the last four she fell in a gripping three-set battle against world No. 4 Jessica Pegula. Despite the loss, Eala became only the third wild card to reach the last four in Miami, joining the elite company of former world No. 1s Justine Henin (2010) and Victoria Azarenka (2018).
“I’m proud of myself for pushing through those tough moments, as well as to have been able to make a statement for the Philippines on one of the biggest stages of tennis,” Eala wrote on social media.
Eala, who won the 2022 US Open girls’ singles title, has trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca since she was 13. She will next compete at the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal from April 14 to 20, followed by the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain from April 22 to May 4.