Alexandra Eala of Philippines celebrates her win against Madison Keys during Day 6 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 23, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP

Alexandra Eala

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1742862011316Alex-Eala.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Alexandra Eala of Philippines celebrates her win against Madison Keys during Day 6 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 23, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. <em>Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>MIAMI GARDENS (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) - Alexandra Eala, the 19-year-old from the Philippines who upset Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday, was handed a place in the Miami Open quarter-finals after her fourth round opponent, Spain&#x27;s Paula Badosa, pulled out with a lower back injury.</p><p>In the quarterfinals, Eala will face world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who defeated Ukraine&#x27;s Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in their fourth round showdown.</p><p>&quot;Not the way I would want to move on to my first WTA1000 QF. I wish Paula a speedy recovery,&quot; Eala wrote in an Instagram story afterward.</p><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHmahuVPZxF/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A6590165.2%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>Eala wrote her name in tennis history after defeating the Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/3/23/tennis-alex-eala-pulls-off-another-stunner-ousts-madison-keys-in-miami-0418">Tennis: Alex Eala pulls off another stunner, ousts Madison Keys in Miami</a></div><p>She became the first woman from the Philippines to beat a top-10 opponent since the ranking system came into being 50 years ago.</p><p>It was a result that Eala celebrated with spontaneity and emotion, hugging her team while on the brink of tears.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a big thing to take in, and I feel it&#x27;s important for me to take it in step by step. I&#x27;m so super proud of what I was able to accomplish, but it definitely fuels me more,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;I know and it&#x27;s in my mind that I have a next match, but I need to stop, and I need to recognize that what I did today was really amazing. I think my reaction on court, you know, sums up pretty much how I feel about it,&quot; she said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/3/24/tennis-emotional-eala-credits-family-for-rise-up-wta-ranks-1242">Tennis: Emotional Eala credits family for rise up WTA ranks</a></div><p>When Eala was a 13-year-old girl, growing up in the Philippines, her talent was evident and her family made the difficult decision to send her to Spain to Rafael Nadal&#x27;s academy in Mallorca.</p><p>There is no doubt that the access to the quality of coaching and facilities that the Spaniard makes available has helped Eala to grow into the 2022 US Open girls&#x27; singles champion and now a real contender on the WTA Tour.</p><p>But Eala knows that her road to the big stage began earlier than that move.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Credit to family -</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tE90szlnSQs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong></div><p>&quot;The academy has been my home for the past seven years. Of course, my family should take credit for the foundation that they laid out before they sent me there.&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;But of course, the academy was able to build on that foundation in such a way that I&#x27;m able to be where I am now. And I think the combination of everything that I&#x27;ve been through since I started tennis is what has led to this moment and what has led to me having all these opportunities,&quot; she added.</p><p>Eala says it was a tough decision for her family to send her away to Europe at such a young age, although the fact that her brother Miko also signed up for the academy made it easier for her parents.</p><p>But as close as Eala evidently is to her family, she said she knew it was the right move.</p><p>&quot;It was definitely a big decision for me, for us. As soon as I heard that, I jumped at the opportunity because I knew that I had to get out of the country eventually to improve,&quot; she added.</p><p>Eala gained her passion for the game through playing with her grandfather who was a keen club player and coached her brother and cousins before turning his attention to the youngster.</p><p>&quot;I was kind of the next in line to do that and to spend time with him. It eventually blossomed into the career I have now,&quot; she said.</p><p>Her big win came the day after another Asian member of the Nadal Academy, Hong Kong&#x27;s Coleman Wong, pulled off a stunning win of his own in Miami, beating American 13th seed Ben Shelton.</p><p>The two are good friends and Eala was delighted to see his victory less than 24 hours before her own triumph.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m super happy for him and to see someone that I&#x27;ve known for so long do so well is definitely an inspiration. Not just to me, but I feel in general a lot of people can take inspiration from him,&quot; she said.</p><p>But while she hopes that her victory will provide hope and motivation for other young players from her homeland, there is an understandable reluctance at such a young age to become an instant role model.</p><p>&quot;The young kids, the youth in the Philippines, they don&#x27;t need to take inspiration from me. They can take inspiration from anyone they want. You know, they can take inspiration from other things, which is what I did growing up,&quot; she said.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Alexandra Eala, the 19-year-old from the Philippines who upset Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday, was handed a place in the Miami Open quarter-finals after her fourth round opponent, Spain's Paula Badosa, pulled out with a lower back injury.</p>

Alexandra Eala, the 19-year-old from the Philippines who upset Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday, was handed a place in the Miami Open quarter-finals after her fourth round opponent, Spain's Paula Badosa, pulled out with a lower back injury.

Tennis: Eala advances to Miami Open q'finals after Paula Badosa pulls out | ABS-CBN

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Tennis: Eala advances to Miami Open q'finals after Paula Badosa pulls out

Tennis: Eala advances to Miami Open q'finals after Paula Badosa pulls out

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 25, 2025 08:21 AM PHT

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Updated Mar 25, 2025 12:16 PM PHT

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