Underdog Eala not yet done, faces Pegula in semis

Despite her titanic quarterfinal victory, Alex Eala is still far from done as she battles Jessica Pegula of the United States for a spot in the final of the women’s singles event of the Miami Open on Friday (Manila time) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Eala will face world No. 4 Pegula at 8:30 a.m. overflowing with confidence after pulling the rug from under world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in what is billed as the biggest, most important victory in the history of Philippine tennis.

Against Pegula, Eala is facing an uphill battle.

Aside from having the support of the boisterous home crowd, Pegula is coming in as the favorite for beating world No. 16 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the Round of 16 and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.

The 31-year-old Pegula may not have a Grand Slam title under her belt but she is overflowing with professional experience with seven career titles.

Eala, for her part, admitted that she is still in disbelief after realizing that her Cinderella run in the Miami Open is still alive.

“I think I was so in the moment, and I made it a point to be in the moment at every point that it’s hard to realize what just happened. It’s hard to realize that you won the match,” said Eala, the world No. 140 who was left stunned after scoring a match point off an attack error by her Polish foe.

“I really tried to soak it all in, because this has never happened to me before, and that’s why I was looking at the screen. You know, I really wanted to keep that moment in my mind.”

Eala’s journey to the semifinals had been fantastic.

She started her campaign with a 6-3, 7-6 win over world No. 73 and home bet Katie Volynets in the round of 128 before taking down world No. 25 champion and French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia in the round of 64, 7-6, 7-5.

After that, Eala defeated Australian Open champion and world No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States, 6-4, 6-2, in the Round of 32, to fire a warning shot in this prestigious WTA 1000 event.

Eala drew a lucky break after world No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain withdrew from their Round of 16 clash due to a lower back injury to set the stage for a kill-or-be-killed duel with Swiatek.

Should Eala pull off the win, she will be face the survivor between world No. 6 Jasmine Paolini of Italy and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the final.

Eala admitted that winning all the way will not be easy, but she will do her best to pull it through to hammer her first professional title while bringing pride and joy to Filipinos back home.

“Faith, belief and self-esteem. I feel that’s what’s gonna get you through tough times. It will take everything in me,” Eala said.

“Next match won’t be any less tough. It will be even tougher.”