Congratulations to Alex Eala, the top-ranked Filipino tennis player (female or male), for reaching the semifinals of the Miami Open. She did in incredible fashion, beating three Grand Slam champions in a row - 25th seed Jelena Ostapenko (2017 French Open champion), world #5 Madison Keys (2025 Australian Open), and world #2 Iga Swiatek (who has won 5 Grand Slam titles). In the semifinals, she put up an incredible fight against world #4 Jessica Pegula before losing in three tough sets 7-6, 5-7, 3-6. Amazing! Her achievement so monumental for a Filipino tennis player that she was celebrating with a very supportive audience after the loss. Even the commentators had to say that it's rare for the loser to have a bigger smile than the winner. Check out her celebration as she exited the Miami Open:
Alex Eala feels the love despite the loss
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 28, 2025
💙❤️#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/DeNmdiM4Fu
Alex Eala moves up to #75 in the world, which I believe is the highest ever ranking for a Filipino tennis player in the Open era. This ranking also means that she now automatically enters the draw of the next Grand Slam event, the French Open. Awesome! It also means she has a chance of making the main draw of Wimbledon, which will be played about three weeks later.
This is not Alex's first success in tennis. In 2022, she won the US Open girls tournament, making her the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam event. As a Rafa Nadal fan, I also love the fact that she has been training at the Rafa Nadal Academy for the last 7 years. I don't know what the future holds for her but I am just really happy for her incredible achievement at the Miami Open. I also wish her all the best in her tennis career. Way to go, Alex!
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