Teenage wildcard stuns Iga Swiatek at Miami Open in huge upset as Toni Nadal watches on | Tennis | Sport

Alexandra Eala continued her incredible Miami Open run by pulling off another huge upset as she took out former champion Iga Swiatek. The No. 2 seed failed to hold serve for the first hour of the match and sprayed errors across the court, losing 6-2 7-5.

A Rafa Nadal Academy graduate, Eala had a special guest in her player box for the quarter-final – Nadal’s uncle and former coach, Toni. And she produced a statement performance in front of ‘uncle Toni’ as she reached the last four.

Eala had already taken out two Grand Slam champions during her fairytale run, beating Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys en route to the quarter-final. But she took things a step further when she came up against five-time Major winner Swiatek on Wednesday.

Starting play on the main Stadium court on quarter-final day, the world No. 140 remained calm and collected as she came up against the second seed.

Eala stormed through the opening set for the loss of two games as Swiatek failed to hold serve and hit 19 unforced errors.

Swiatek took an off-court comfort break to compose herself and it paid off. After going down an early break in the second set, the world No. 2 finally raised her level and held serve for the first time in the match after 65 minutes.

She kept on rolling, reeling off four games in a row to take the lead, but Eala refused to go away and made things tricky for the 2022 champion. Swiatek was broken while serving for the set at 5-4 and she failed to win another game as the Filipino wildcard caused a huge upset.

It’s the first time Swiatek has lost to a player outside of the world’s top 100 in four years, after Ana Konjuh beat her at the 2021 Miami Open.

And it’s a full circle moment for Eala, as Swiatek was present for her graduation at the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2023, even handing the teenager her certificate.

The teenage wildcard is now through to her first WTA 1000 semi-final and is set to crack the world’s top 100. But, straight after the match, she insisted she was still the same player.

“It’s such a huge jump, you know? I don’t know, my mind is really blank now,” Eala told Sky Sports. “I don’t think I’ve processed what I’ve just done. In the end, I’m still the same player I was two weeks ago so it’s weird because so much has changed but nothing really has changed.

“That’s not something you really think about coming in, that you’re going to beat Slam champions. But I believe it every time before the match – same today and same before the next match.”

Eala is feeling the effects of her statement run, as her thigh was heavily strapped for the quarter-final match. But the teen sensation said it was all part of building her mental and physical resiliance.

Pointing to her mind and to her taped up leg, she added: “It’s normal that at this point in the tournament, the players are going to get some discomfort physically.

“Like everything else, I have to learn to deal with it. It’s part of toughness here, toughness here. But in the end, I worked for it, I prepared and I’m ready.”

The wildcard will now face either Emma Raducanu or Jessica Pegula for a spot in the final.