Tournament surprise Alexandra Eala narrowly missed the next sensational success at the Miami Open.
The 19-year-old tennis player from the Philippines failed in the semi-finals just to the American Jessica Pegula. After a self-sacrificing fight, Eala was defeated by the US Open finalist from 2024 after 2:25 hours with 6: 7 (3: 7), 7: 5, 3: 6. Eala, led to 140th place in the world rankings before the tournament, just missed the next chapter on her dreamlike journey.
In the quarter-finals of the top-class WTA tournament, she had switched off superstar Iga Swiatek in two sets, in the final she would have met the world ranking aryna Sabalenka, which the Italian Jasmine Paolini easily hit 6: 2, 6: 2.
Eala – “I gave everything”
At Eala, the disappointment after the match was initially great, but her appearance fulfilled her with pride. “I literally gave everything I had, I consist of half of tape, I’m like a mummy”she joked: “I gave everything and I don’t regret anything.” For such a run should be “The stars are in a row, and that did this week, and hopefully I can keep that – that’s my goal now”added.
Previously, Eala, who only won two victories at WTA tournaments in her career before the tournament, had two more alumni in Jelena Ostapenko and Australian Open Champion Madison Keys Grand Slam-winners turned off. She was the lowest placed semi -finalist in tournament history. Eala, which until recently still mainly on the Challenger Tour Was moved to Mallorca at the age of 13 to train in the Rafael Nadal academy.