Teenage sensation Alex Eala’s fairytale run at the 2025 Miami Open is over, and she will leave the tournament with huge boosts to her ranking and earnings.
Eala pushed world No 4 Jessica Pegula hard in the semi-finals at the WTA 1000 event before ultimately falling 6-7(3), 7-5, 3-6 after two hours and 26 minutes.
The 140th-ranked wildcard made history by becoming the first player from the Philippines to reach the last four of a tour-level event.
The 19-year-old defeated three Grand Slam champions during her run at the Hard Rock Stadium: Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek.
Her stunning 6-2, 7-5 quarter-final win over Swiatek, a five-time major winner and the current world No 2, was a seismic upset.
Eala earned all four of her victories in Miami in straight sets, while she also received a last 16 walkover from Paula Badosa, who was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Following her loss to Pegula, Eala told reporters: “Of course, I’m disappointed.
“But there’s so many times in tennis where you have to dig out the dirt to look for the positive and now I’m enjoying it because there’s so much positive around me and I don’t know how many times that has happened, so I’m just lucky to have been able to experience these two weeks.
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“The match I played was amazing and she played amazing. I definitely had my chances and I definitely have things that I could’ve done better, but I literally gave everything I had — as you see I’m taped up like a mummy.”
Eala added: “I think I’m going to reset and build my body back up so that my next tournament I can go all out full and can give everything I have again. It’s not easy because if it was, everybody would be doing it.”
By reaching the semi-finals in Miami, Eala has collected 370 ranking points, which has seen her soar 65 places in the live WTA Rankings from 140th to 75th.
The Filipino’s previous career-high ranking was world No 134, and she will become the first player in her nation’s history to break into the top 100 of the women’s or men’s rankings next week.
Eala’s run at the WTA 1000 tournament has earned her $332,160 in prize money, with her total career earnings prior to the tournament standing at $498,901.
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