Alex Eala’s titanic battle against world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open is four years in the making.
In fact, their paths first crossed in 2021 when Swiatek helped the then 15-year-old Eala prepare for the same tournament, which served as her first appearance in a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) main draw.
Two years later, the five-time Grand Slam champion from Poland inspired Eala when she served as guest speaker during her graduation at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca, Spain.
On Wednesday, they will be at the opposing ends of the court to intensify their chase for a spot in the semifinals of the prestigious WTA 1000 event.
The 19-year-old Eala admitted that facing an imposing figure in professional tennis like Swiatek is such a “full circle moment” for her.
“These past few days have been completely amazing. It’s crazy that I made my main draw debut here in 2021 and now I’m into the quarterfinals,” said Eala, who has been the hottest player in the Miami Open after shocking some of the biggest names in the world like Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Madison Keys of the United States.
“It’s such a full circle moment and I hope you guys can all support and come along to the journey.”
After beating Keys — the world No. 5 and reigning Australian Open champion — in the Round of 32, Eala scored a lucky break when world No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain pulled out of their Round of 16 match due to a nagging lower back injury.
Eala, a two-time Asian Games bronze medalist, rued the decision of Badosa, saying that she would have loved to test her mettle against the prized Spaniard.
“Not the way I wanted to move on to my first WTA 1000 QF. I wish Paula a speedy recovery,” Eala said.
“Looking forward to my match on Wednesday.”
Meanwhile, Swiatek has been displaying incredible performance as she swept past world No. 22 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 7-6, 6-3, in the Last 16.
Prior to beating Svitolina, Swiatek displayed solid performances against Caroline Garcia and Elise Mertens in her first two matches of the tournament, proving that she remains one of the world’s best players.
Swiatek will be the Filipina wildcard’s ultimate test as she has been the No. 1 ranked tennis player for 125 weeks — the seventh longest streak in WTA history.
The Polish tennis star also boasts 22 titles, including her five Grand Slams, and an 81-percent win rate.
Should Eala pull off another upset, she will take on the winner between Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and world No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States in the semifinals.
But this early, the Filipina is already assured of $189,075 — or around P10.8 million — for making it to the quarterfinal while having a huge boost in WTA ranking with 215 points.
Should she advance to the semifinals, a whopping $332,160 — or P19 million — pot money as well as 390 ranking points await her.
Not bad for somebody who is just entering the prime of her tennis career.