The 19-year-old, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, was in tears as she made history in the second round. Matt FitzgeraldMIAMI, FL — History made, again.Alexandra Eala, a 19-year-old Miami Open wild card from the Philippines, just scored the biggest win of her young career on Friday with a straight-sets stunner over No. 25 seed Jelena Ostapenko.The teen’s hard-fought 7-6 (2), 7-5 second-round victory wasn’t just a personal milestone for Eala, coming two days after she recorded her first Miami main-draw win in three appearances against Katie Volynets.Read More: Armed with new coach, Joao Fonseca fends off Learner Tien, and illness, in tricky Miami openerHer win marked some major tennis history for her country, too, as Eala became the first player representing the Philippines to defeat a Top 30 player since at least 1975—the year WTA rankings were first published.What makes the victory even more meaningful is that Eala isn’t just the highest-ranked Filipina on the WTA Tour: She’s the only Filipino player on the professional tennis tour, outright, with no man or woman representing the country featuring inside the Top 1000 rankings.”Competing on tour and representing the Philippines means everything to me,” she shared as a part of the WTA’s new Rally The World campaign. “Being a professional tennis player, and the only Filipina on tour, where I come from is such a big part of my identity.”Eala made a name for herself as a talented junior, winning the 2020 Australian Open girls’ title (with Priska Madelyn) and the 2021 French Open girls title (with Oksana Selekhmeteva) in doubles. She marked another historic, major milestone when she lifted the 2022 US Open junior singles title—making her the first Filipino player to win a singles championship.Currently coached by Daniel Gomez, the Quezon City native honed her game at the Rafa Nadal Academy from the age of 12 until her graduation in 2023, when she began playing tennis full-time, and continues training in Mallorca.“I never would have thought that at 13, I’d be moving out. But overall, I think it helped me become more professional and gain independence,” she recently told Tatler Asia.Read More: Rafael Nadal set for $94-million profit after selling part of his stake in tennis academy”Being a professional tennis player, and the only Filipina on tour, where I come from is such a big part of my identity,” Eala shared. Matt Fitzgerald“It just brought a whole different level to my game. I don’t know where I would be without going there. It was such a huge turning point in my life, and I’m just super grateful because I was a scholar there for four years—just like an actual school but for tennis.”Currently sitting at No. 140 in the world, Eala has been the highest-ranked Filipina singles player in WTA Tour history since 2022 when she lapped Maricris Gentz, who peaked at No. 284 in 1999.As Eala recorded just her second-ever WTA 1000-level win on Friday, she seemed to be in total disbelief, but looked far from satisfied. As the umpire called ‘game, set and match’ on her historic victory, the 19-year-old was in tears as she celebrated the victory, turning toward her team and covering her face as she took it all in.The wild card will take on the winner of No. 5 seed Madison Keys and Elina Avanesyan in the third round on Sunday.A post shared by WTA (@wta)
