MANILA – Filipina tennis star Alexandra Eala’s Cinderella run in the 2025 Miami Open came to an end. She bowed to No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, in the semifinals on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Eala had a strong start, taking a 5-2 advantage in the opening set before allowing Pegula to claw her way back and tie the score at 6-all before eventually snatching the set win.
In the second set, Eala tweaked her ankle but still soldiered on and recovered from a 3-5 deficit and took the set at 7-5, sending the semis match to a winner-take-all set.
In the third set, both Eala and Pegula exchanged wins for a 3-all score before the American netter took advantage of a tired Filipina hitter to secure the next three games.
Even with the loss, it has been a remarkable campaign for the 19-year-old Eala, who made headlines after taking down former Grand Slam champions one after another.
Eala first ousted former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, then stunned reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round.
Eala then received a walkover to the quarterfinals when her opponent, world No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain, withdrew due to a back injury before she barged to the Final Four with an upset over five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Eala is the first Filipino player to make it this far in a WTA1000 tournament and is poised to break into the WTA Top 100 after her recent wins and is also guaranteed to pocket P19 million prize.
For Pegula, she will next take on world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who demolished Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in her own semis match, 6-2, 6-2./PN
