ALEXANDRA EALA (PHL) hits a forehand against Iga Świątek (POL) (not pictured) on day nine of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. — REUTERS/GEOFF BURKE-IMAGN IMAGES

Philippine wildcard Alex Eala stuns Świątek to reach Miami semis

NOT ONCE, not twice but thrice in a row for “Alex The Great.”

Alexandra “Alex” Eala’s legend reached a new high, conquering a third straight Grand Slam champion foe in Polish superstar Iga Świątek with a world-shaking sweep, 6-2, 7-5, on her way to a historic semifinal seat in the 2025 Miami Open on Thursday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida.

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

A wildcard entry and unseeded player at that in the stacked 128-player field headlined by the sports’ brightest stars, Ms. Eala embraced the spotlight and the pressure with it to blaze a trail not only for Philippine tennis — but for the world.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m in complete disbelief right now. I’m on cloud nine,” said Ms. Eala, speechless and breathless for a moment after Ms. Świątek’s return from her own serve went out of bounds for her epic victory via sweep much to the standing ovation of the packed Miami crowd in awe of her stellar Cinderella run.

“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 Ms. Eala on Friday at 8:30 a.m. (Manila time) is home bet and world No. 4 Jessica Pegula, who scored a gutsy 6-4, 6(3)-7, 6-2 win over Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu in their own quarterfinal pairing.

Ms. Eala could soar to greater heights with a potential monumental ticket in the final albeit she had already etched a lot of feats as early as now with a win for the ages against Ms. Świątek, who just two years ago served as the keynote speaker in her graduation at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain.

Only 19 years of age and hundreds of ranks below her Goliath opponents at WTA No. 140, Ms. Eala was 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 become the first Filipino player in history to barge into the Top 100 with a live ranking of No. 75 as of writing.

In the entire tennis world, the lefty wunderkind zoomed as only the second wild card to defeat three or more Grand Slam champions in a single tour-level event after Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon 2023.

The protégé of Spanish legend Rafael Nadal 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 Ms. Eala did it all without yielding a single set, none bigger than a domination of Ms. Świątek in only 99 minutes to secure a guaranteed purse of $332,160 or over P19 million.

After a backbreaking stunner in the first set, Ms. Eala melted a 2-4 deficit behind a crisp groundstroke and return service game that caught Ms. Świątek off guard -— and out.

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

“We are extremely proud of you, Alex (Eala). What an incredible tournament! Let’s keep dreaming,” said the “King of Clay” Mr. Nadal, a 22-time grand slam winner before retiring last year.

“She went all in. 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,” added Ms. Świątek on Ms. Eala, her training mate in the 2021 Miami Open that served as the Filipina teen’s WTA Tour debut.

Indeed, Ms. Eala’s dream continues and she’s out to realize it with a potential final seat in the biggest moment for her and the Philippine tennis just yet. — John Bryan Ulanday