HISTORY IS MADE: Eala’s dream run continues, shocks Swiatek

Alex Eala’s dream run continues as she pulled off an earthshaking 6-2, 7-5 upset of world No. 2 Iga Swiatek to advance to the semifinals of the Miami Open past midnight of Thursday (Manila time) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Ranked No. 140 in the world, the 19-year-old Eala marched to battle with nothing but her big heart and fighting spirit. She took advantage of Swiatek’s shaky form to fight back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set and set the stage for the biggest, most incredible victory in Philippine tennis history.

The Polish superstar tried to stay in the match at 6-5 down but her service went long, leaving Eala looking stunned while struggling to control her emotions.

“I’m just in disbelief right now. It’s so surreal,” she said on court.

“I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage,” said Eala, who has now beaten three grand slam winners in her route to the Last Four at Miami — having dealt with Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys before upsetting four-time French Open champion Swiatek.

Now, she is stacked against American hotshot Jessica Pegula, who beat Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu, in the other quarterfinal pairing, 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.

Should she pull off another miracle and shock the hometown favorite, Eala will compete in the final against the survivor in the other semifinal battle between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Still, Eala refuses to get intimidated.

“I’m trusting my shots and I have a great team to tell me that I can do it,” she said.

Eala’s victory in this Level 1000 tournament, which is just one rung lower than a Grand Slam event, means a lot to her young professional tennis career.

For one, Eala got a massive boost in the Women’s Tennis Association ranking as she is expected to rise to as high as world No. 75 pending the result of her semifinal battle against Pegula.

With her looming inclusion in the world top 100 players, Eala no longer has to undergo the grueling qualifying phases of future Grand Slam events like the French Open in May, the Wimbledon in June, and the US Open in August as well as other WTA 1000 tournaments.

Aside from that, her dream run also gave her a massive financial boost that she can use in upgrading her training and hiring quality coaches. Right now, Eala is already assured of over P19 million, which could even climb to around P34 million if she reaches the final and P64 million if she is crowned as champion.

Prior to Miami, she has won a grand total of $32,000 — or just roughly P1.8 million.

But more than the ranking and the cash incentives that await her, beating a world-class foe like the 22-time champion Swiatek gave Eala a massive boost in her confidence and morale.

Now, she no longer sees herself as a nervous neophyte who can only compete in lower-rung events, but as a heavyweight who can go up and face the best netters in the world.

Eala moved to Spain at the age of 13 to join Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca and Toni Nadal, the Spaniard’s uncle and former coach, was in her box for the match.

“It meant a lot that he showed up here. It showed the confidence he had in me and the confidence the academy had in me,” she said.

“Just because I won this match or the one before doesn’t make the next one any less tough. If anything, it will be more tough, so it will take everything that I have,” Eala said.

Swiatek, on the other hand, will look forward to moving on to the clay season after conceding that she had been far from her usual level.

“I’m sure I wasn’t playing my best game and I felt like my forehand collapsed a little, so it wasn’t comfortable and Alexandra, for sure, used her chances and pushed me, so for sure she deserves to win this match,” Swiatek said.

“I don’t want to think about this too long. It’s nice to learn from losses but there are other things ahead and I am happy we are going to play on clay. I don’t know what it will be like this year, but I’m definitely going to work hard to be ready for the first tournaments.”