Filipino wildcard shocks Swiatek, set semifinal clash with Pegula at Miami Open

Teenage wild card Alexandra Eala turned in the most remarkable performance so far of her history-making breakout run at the Miami Open, ousting No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to make the first WTA semifinal of her career. Eala overturned a 4-2 deficit in the second set.

“I’m in complete disbelief right now, I’m on cloud nine,” a breathless Eala said in her on-court interview. Presented with a photo of her graduation from the Rafa Nadal Academy less than two years ago, with Swiatek by her side, Eala’s state of shock only grew.

“It’s so surreal,” she said. “I feel like I’m the exact same person as I was in that photo. But of course, circumstances have changed! I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage … 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.”

Eala, 19, is the first player from the Philippines to reach a tour-level semifinal, and is now guaranteed to become the first Filipina to be ranked inside the Top 100 of the PIF WTA Rankings next Monday. She is the third wild card to reach the last four in Miami, following Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018 — both of whom were former World No. 1s returning from extended breaks.

As she bids to reach her first career WTA final, Eala will next face either No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula who later defeated Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 after three hours.

The American advanced to her third semifinal in Miami in the last four years by topping the 2021 US Open champion for a second time in three career meetings, and reversed the result of the last time they met at her own home tournament — as Raducanu earned her first career Top 10 victory against Pegula last summer in Eastbourne.