Alex Eala has reached the Round of 16 at the Miami Open, with the Philippine tennis phenom sweeping two former Grand Slam champions in the process.
Alex Eala is making headlines around the world as she made it back-to-back wins over top-ranked players, reaching the Round of 16 of the ongoing Miami Open a wild card entrant on Sunday (Early Monday morning, Manila time).
Eala, 19, took the biggest win of her career as she toppled world no. 5 Madison Keys in their Round of 32 matchup in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. To put the enormous upset in perspective, Keys is the reigning Australian Open champion, winning the first Grand Slam of the year back in January.
The Filipina rising star, ranked 140 in the world, previously drubbed Jelena Ostapenko in similar sweeping fashion before she set up the clash against Keys. Ostapenko, currently the world no. 25, is another former Grand Slam winner.
[RELATED: Alex Eala stuns ex-Grand Slam champ, world no. 25 Jelena Ostapenko in Miami Open]
After the match, Eala shared her thoughts in an on-court interview on what it means for the Philippines to see her win.
“You have to ask the country [what it means]. I don’t know,” Eala quipped with a laugh.
But as for what she hopes the win achieves for Philippine tennis, the Rafa Nadal Academy scholar is optimistic that it can kickstart the sport in the country, where she hopefully gets to see more players like her.
After growing up with little to no role models from Philippine tennis, Eala is turning into one herself for the next generation.
“I feel like, growing up, it was tough because you didn’t have anyone from where you’re from to pave the way and of course, you had many people to look up to around the world,” said Eala.
“But I think, well, I hope, that this takes Philippine tennis to another step,” she added.
Since turning pro in March of 2020, Eala has since made multiple breakthroughs for Philippine tennis, including becoming the highest ranked Filipina player in the WTA Tour. During her junior days, she also became the first Filipino player to win a junior Grand Slam singles title.
Eala hopes to take things even further when she clashes with world no. 11 Paula Badosa.
Badosa was previously ranked world no. 2 in the WTA rankings and has four career singles titles in the tour.