Filipino Teenager Knocks Out Grand Slam Champion

MIAMI, FRIDAY—The Philippines does not have many professional tennis players listed in the WTA or ATP rankings. However, the country has a promising female tennis player, Alexandra Eala, who has already competed in Grand Slam and WTA 1000 events.

Eala, 19 years old, once partnered with Indonesian tennis player Priska Madelyn Nugroho and became the junior women's doubles champion at the 2020 Australian Open Grand Slam. After that, their paths diverged. Priska continues to compete in professional tournaments on the ITF Circuit, while Eala has advanced to WTA 1000 events and Grand Slam tournaments.

This weekend, Eala reached her furthest milestone since starting her professional career in 2020. She advanced to the third round of the women's singles at the WTA 1000 Miami tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida, United States.

The opponent defeated in the second round on Friday (21/3/2025) local time was no ordinary tennis player. She is the 2017 French Open Grand Slam champion, Jelena Ostapenko, who was seeded 25th. Eala won with a score of 7-6 (2), 7-5.

In the match lasting one hour and 53 minutes, Eala managed to withstand Ostapenko's powerful shots, particularly her serve, which is usually her weapon. Eala returned the serves with sharp angles, making it difficult for Ostapenko to anticipate their direction.

The two players took turns controlling the match. Eala trailed 0-3 in the first set, then led 4-0 early in the second. Ostapenko, who once had a unique style of play with a two-handed forehand and backhand, had a chance to win the second set at 5-4. But Eala took the next three games to advance to her first WTA 1000 tournament. She broke down in tears after winning the final point.

The next challenge comes from the tennis player and Grand Slam champion, Madison Keys. The American player, who won the Australian Open this January, defeated Elina Avanesyan 6-3, 6-3.

Eala played in WTA Miami because she got a wild card. This tournament has its own impression for the tennis player who was born in Quezon City, Philippines, on May 23, 2005. WTA Miami became Eala's first stage to compete at the WTA 1000 level, namely in 2021 as a qualifier.

Since that time, she has appeared there every year until reaching her farthest journey in 2025. Another WTA 1000 tournament Eala has participated in includes WTA Madrid and Wuhan, with her best result being the second round in Madrid in 2024.

Eala has also been able to break into the Grand Slam competition, although still through the qualifying rounds. She played in all 2024 Grand Slams, except for the 2023 and 2025 Australian Opens, although she has not yet qualified for the main draw.

Being the only Filipina on the WTA Tour means a lot to me. It's my proud identity.

She achieved all of this as the only professional female tennis player from the Philippines. In the WTA rankings, there is only Eala from that country, which is in the 140th position in the world. She surpassed the previous best female Filipino tennis player, Maricris Gentz who was ranked 284th in 1999.

All of these valuable journeys were made possible because Eala honed her skills at one of the best tennis training places, the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, since she was 12 years old and graduated in 2023. The place was founded by former world number one tennis player, Rafael Nadal.

"Being the only Filipina on the WTA Tour means a lot to me. It's a proud identity for me," she told tennis.com.

Eala, who has a mother who is a former swimmer and a brother who is also a tennis player, never expected that the sacrifice of being away from family would lead her to the world of professional tennis. She said that it was not only tennis that she learned during her time at the academy. Eala also learned to be an independent person.

“Studying there made a big difference in my abilities. It was a turning point in my life. If I hadn’t decided to go to Mallorca, I don’t know what my journey would have been like,” he said.

Besides Eala, there was another teenage tennis player who wowed the audience in the second round, namely Victoria Mboko when she played against Australian Open semifinalist and tenth seed, Paula Badosa. However, unlike Eala, Mboko lost 5-7, 6-1, 6-7 (3).

The 18-year-old Canadian also received a wild card to play in Miami. She had previously played only the WTA 1000 Toronto and the 2022 WTA 250 Granby on WTA tournaments before competing in Miami.

The two teenagers stole the show amid wins by top seeds Iga Swiatek (2), Jessica Pegula (4), Keys (5) and Amanda Anisimova. Mirra Andreeva (11) also got her campaign off to a flying start with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Veronika Kudermetova. Andreeva is on her way to a third straight WTA 1000 title after winning in Dubai and Indian Wells.

In the men's competition at the same ATP Masters 1000 level, Carlos Alcaraz's efforts to play at his best failed to materialize. He was eliminated by senior player, David Goffin, in the second round with a score of 7-5, 4-6, 3-6.

Alcaraz had no other reason to blame than himself for not being at his best in the match. His performance saw him lose to a player outside the world's top 30 for the first time in 2025.

Alcaraz said he was starting to feel tired in his legs despite not being injured or sick. Before the match, the four-time Grand Slam champion even felt very prepared.

"I thought I would play well, but it didn't happen. Besides, David played very well, especially on the first serve which was the key to his victory," Alcaraz told the ATP website.

With that defeat, Alcaraz has only reached one final this year, at the ATP 500 Rotterdam which resulted in the title. At the Indian Wells Masters last week, Alcaraz was knocked out by Jack Draper in the semifinals, thus failing to create a hat trick of champions. As for the Australian Open competition, he lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

In addition to Alcaraz, another top-10 seed to exit in the second round was Daniil Medvedev. The seventh seed lost to Jaime Munar 2-6, 3-6.

Meanwhile, Djokovic won his first appearance in Miami in six years when he faced Rinky Hijikata. The six-time Miami Masters champion won 6-0, 7-6(1) and will face lucky loser Camilio Ugo Carabel in the third round. (AFP)