Alexandra “Alexa” Eala pulled off the biggest win of her career as she ousted Iga Swiatek from the 2025 Miami Open.
According to the Miami Herald, the world's 140th-seeded Philippine on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, beat world No. 2 Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in the biggest upset of the tournament to qualify for the Miami Open semi-finals.
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The five-time Grand Slam champion and former Miami Open winner, who was playing with the extra security after the verbal abuse incident, struggled to serve throughout the first set while the 19-year-old was swinging freely all over the court.
Eala expressed, “I couldn’t decide whether to cry because I was so in the moment, and it’s hard to realise what just happened. It’s hard to realise you won the match. I really tried to soak it all in because this has never happened to me before, and that’s why I was looking at the screen.”
She said that she kept looking at the screen after achieving the major career milestone because she really wanted to keep the historic moment in her mind.
“I don’t have a lot of experience on the WTA Tour, that’s for sure, but I do have experience with compartmentalising, with being professional, and I have no hesitation to bring that part of me out when I’m on court and when I’m in a setting that calls for professionalism,” she added.
Eala will now play her career’s first-ever Miami Open semi-finals on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
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