Alex Eala of the Philippines reacts to the match point after having defeated Iga Swiatek of Poland in the Quaretfinaux of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2025. Al Bello / Getty Images / AFP
If the tennis broadcasters hoped for emotional scenes of teenage teens Alex Eala after obtaining one of the biggest upheavals of the WTA season, they were disappointed.
But the last point, when it broke the service of the world number two Iga Swiatek, for the eighth time, revealed much more on the Philippine than any water.
The face of Eala Trembla, on the verge of tears, as she began to treat the magnitude of her victory which sent her in the semi-finals of the opening of Miami, but she kept her emotions under control, consecrated and celebrated in a controlled manner before calmly and with diligence her post-match functions.
Read: Alex Eala drops Miami Open world number 2 Iga Swiatek
“I think I was so in the moment, and I made myself a point of being at the time of every point that it is difficult to achieve what has just happened. It is difficult to realize that you have won the match,” she said, asked about her immediate emotions to beat the five-time winner of the Grand Chelem.
“I really tried to absorb everything, because it has never happened to me before, and that’s why I looked at the screen. You know, I really wanted to keep this moment in my mind,” she added.
She left and did it !!!!!!!! 🇵🇭
The Philippin Joker Alexandra Eala stifles the world number 2 Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to reach the last 4 in Miami!#Miamiopen pic.twitter.com/xn1znpc10
– wta (@wta) March 26, 2025
In the biggest game of his career on the WTA tour, Eala played with a balance that denied its inexperience but underlined an impressive level of preparation for such a moment.
Read: Alex Eala: Smash Hit of the Philippines on the way to the celebrity of tennis
“I don’t have much experience in the WTA tour, that’s for sure, but I have experience with compartmentalization. I have experience with being professional, ”she said.
“I do not hesitate to bring this part of me out when I am on the field and when I am in a setting that calls for professionalism,” she added.
Practical
March 26, 2025; Miami, FL, United States; Alex Eala of the Philippines reacts after winning a point against Iga Swiatek in the quarter -finals of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Compulsory credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Of course, Eala has been in a professional setting since she was 13 years old, when she left her homeland to join the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca.
Over the past six years, she has lived and breathed tennis alongside the best coaches and a group of players hoping all to travel on the tour.
Read: Alex Eala directs a unifying story in the middle of the polarizing political scene
But Eala says that her clearly commercial approach was earned more from her family rather than the daily regime in Spain.
“This is not something I learned in the Academy. This is something I got, I guess, from my experience as things that I lived through this moment. It is also something that my family guided me, it is one of the values of my family, ”she said.
“These are people who succeed in business, they succeed in their own areas and the people I look at. I think they give an example for this. ”
Forever in his heart 🙌
Watch: Alex Eala shares her thoughts after winning the biggest victory of his young career with a superb 6-2 7-5 upheaval in the world’s number two Polish Iga SwiTek to prolong his dream race at the Miami Open in the semi-finals. | 📹: WTA pic.twitter.com/kbx8rohg5f
– Inquirer Sports (@inquirersports) March 26, 2025
The twin influences on his career were obvious in his box – his parents had soared from the Philippines for the game, just like an uncle and a cousin based in Seattle, but sat down with them was Toni Nadal, the uncle and the former coach of the Grand Spanish, representing the Academy.
“So a lot of additional motivation for my match today. I really wanted my family to see me winning, but I know they would be happy to see me compete in this context.
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“And Toni also came to Miami. It meant a lot, because I have been working closely with him for so long, alongside my main coaches of the Academy, it has shown a lot about the confidence and pride of the Academy in me,” she added.
There was still time for Eala to think about an old photo of her Swiatic meeting during a graduation event at the Academy two years ago and to express his hope that his victory would inspire young people from his native country to take sport.
There have been many teenagers who have made dramatic entries in the WTA elite over the years, some have prospered, some have fallen quickly, but few will have arrived with professionalism as assured as the 19 -year -old Quezon City.
