Iga Swiatek Stunned By 19-Year-Old World No. 140 Eala In Miami Quarter-Finals
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Iga Swiatek was stunned in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Miami Open by an incredibly inspired Alexandra Eala.
Eala is a talented 19-year-old player from the Philippines, but before this tournament, she was ranked way outside of the Top 100. She entered the event as World No. 140.
However, she managed to beat two Grand Slam champions back-to-back, eliminating both Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to set up a fourth-round meeting with Paula Badosa.
After Badosa's withdrawal from the tournament, Eala was granted a spot in the quarter-finals, but an even greater task was ahead of her. After beating two players who have both won one major in their careers, she now took on a five-time Grand Slam champion.
Swiatek recorded three impressive wins to reach the quarter-finals in Miami, but she didn't play well against Eala. The Filipino player was able to win all the crucial points in the opening few games, which made all the difference.
Swiatek had two break points in the first game, two game points in the second game, one break point in the third game, and two game points in the fourth game. Yet, out of these four games, she managed to win only one.
That was what made all the difference in the first set, and even though the Polish player then broke back to make it 2-3, she then started struggling with unforced errors, while her opponent played really well.
The Pole lost eight points in a row, and she suddenly found herself down 2-5. On top of that, Swiatek lost a 30-0 lead on her serve when serving to stay in the set, and she lost the first set of the match 2-6.
But despite losing the first set of the match so convincingly, the second seed was still a huge favorite against the 19-year-old player. That was true even after Swiatek lost the opening two games of the second set and was down 2-6 and 0-2.
She proved why that was the case only a few minutes later, as she rallied back and made it 4-2. Swiatek then lost that advantage again, but she broke her opponent's serve one more time, and up 5-4, the Pole served for the set.
Stunningly, Eala won 12 of the following 16 points to record the biggest win of her career, eliminating a third Grand Slam champion in a row. The teenager will now play against the winner of the match between Emma Raducanu and Jessica Pegula.
Should Raducanu reach the semi-finals, Eala would have a chance to beat four major winners in a row, and in a crazy scenario, she could beat the fifth one in the final if she were to take on Aryna Sabalenka.
For Swiatek, this marks another disappointing loss. At the same time, good news for her is that this was the last tournament on a hard court, and she will now move to her favorite clay courts.
