Eala barges into Miami Open quarterfinals

ALEXANDRA Eala from the Philippines was handed a place in the quarterfinals after her fourth round opponent, Spain's Paula Badosa, pulled out with a lower back injury on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) in the Miami Open. In the last eight Eala, the 19-year-old who upset Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday, will face second seed Iga Swiatek who battled past Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7/5) 6-3. Full circle moment Eala said she reached a full circle moment after making the quarterfinals. "I just want to thank you for all the support, the atmosphere these past few days has been completely amazing," said Eala in an Instagram video posted by WTA. "It's crazy to think that I made my main draw debut here in 2021 and now I'm into the quarterfinals. It's such a full circle moment and I hope you guys can all support and come along on the journey." Eala started her Miami Open historic run by taking down world No. 25 and former French Open titlist Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the round of 64, 7-6 (2), 7-5, last Saturday. Ranked 140th in the world, Eala scored another upset victory against world No. 5 and reigning Australian Open champ Madison Keys of the United States in the round of 32, 6-4, 6-2. With that double kill, Eala became the first Filipino netter to defeat a top 25 and a top 5 player in consecutive fashion at that. In the quarters on Wednesday, Eala plays in the biggest match of her young pro career yet as she faces world No. 2 Swiatek.