Alexandra Eala Put Philippine tennis on the map — and she’s not done yet

Philippine’s young tennis sensation, Alexandra Eala, has revealed how her life has changed after an incredible outing at the Miami Open earlier this year. The 20-year-old became the talk of the town after producing brilliant performances in the WTA 1000 event earlier this year.

In that competition, Eala managed to go all the way to the semifinal. On her way to the last-four clash, she defeated three Grand Slam winners. She defeated the 2017 French Open winner, Latvia’s Jeļena Ostapenko, in the second round with a score of 7-6, 7-5. In the next round, Eala got the better of the 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2.

At the quarterfinals stage, Eala secured the biggest win of her career as she defeated former world number one and five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 7-5. Her journey finally ended at the last-four stage after losing to 2024 US Open runner-up, America’s Jessica Pegula, with a score of 7-6, 5-7, 6-3. Eala has recently spoken to Tennis 365, discussing how her life changed following her impressive run in Miami. The 20-year-old stated that her perspective about the spot has changed ever since that run, and thought that playing against top players has helped her improve her game.

“I think I have done a good job and my team have done a good job of dealing with everything that happened after Miami,” said Eala. “So many things changed and my perspective has changed since Miami, but my day-to-day life is the same. I have the same work ethic and the same attention to detail. What happened in Miami was definitely a big surprise for me. It’s difficult because I try not to look at it as a big picture thing, as that tournament progressed. I didn’t even look at the draw. I just went match by match because you don’t know how far you are going to get and every round there was another big obstacle. For sure, it gave me a lot of confidence to know that my level is there to play against the top players, but I know there is a lot more for me to do before i can be there consistently.”