Alex Eala Just Pulled Off the Biggest Upset at the 2025 Miami Open Yet

“I knew I could win from the start, but the chances were low, given that she’s a great player,” said Alex Eala after beating current Australian Open champion and world no. 5 Madison Keys in an emphatic two-set win at the Miami Open.

Currently ranked world no. 134, Eala pulled off one of the biggest Top 10 upsets in the Women’s Tennis Association 1000 tournament this week. She became the first Filipino to defeat a WTA Top 10 opponent and the first player ranked outside the Top 100 to reach the Round of 16 in a WTA 1000 event this season.

She achieved this just after ousting 25th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko last Sunday — her biggest feat prior to taking down Madison Keys.

“There is no time to process; my mind is still in the match,” Eala said in a post-tournament interview. “I am just in disbelief. I knew I could win from the start, but the chances were low, given that she’s a great player. But I think my belief and the trust I had in myself is what pushed me through.”

History-Making Wins

On paper, Keys had every advantage over Eala, a relatively unknown left-hander whose biggest achievement prior was winning the 2022 US Open Girls’ Singles title — where she defeated current world no. 6 and Indian Wells champion Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals. But by the tail end of the first set, after the two exchanged breakpoints, something clicked. Eala kept catching the baselines and winning crucial long rallies. In the post-match interview, Keys praised Eala’s game, saying she’s someone who “makes a ton of balls back and absorbs [power] really well.”

Eala finished with 13 winners and 21 unforced errors, while Keys had 51 unforced errors and 22 winners.

The 19-year-old Eala, who made history as the first Filipino player to defeat a WTA Top 10 opponent, was visibly in tears after the match.

A product of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Eala started playing tennis at the age of 4 and began competing on the International Tennis Federation circuit in 2020 at 14. Following her win against Keys, Nadal himself applauded Eala in a tweet, saying, “Congratulations, Alex! What a great win for you and for 🇵🇭! 👏🏻”

The teenage tennis player has had limited success in achieving her short-term goal of playing at a Grand Slam, often falling short in the qualifiers. However, with this newfound momentum, Eala is now more optimistic.

“There have been many times where I’ve had a good win in my career and then not so great a match afterward. So I tried not to think about it too much, you know? It’s just another match. There have been many times where I would have been able to play a big player like Madison or Ostapenko, but I couldn’t because I lost the round before.”

“I feel it’s because I wasn’t ready at the time… and now I have to believe that I am because I’ve been given this opportunity. I’ve worked for the opportunity, and I have to take advantage of what I have,” she added.

Eala will face world no. 11 Paula Badosa in the fourth round next.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article mistakenly identified Jelena Ostapenko as a Wimbledon champion. Ostapenko won the women’s singles title at the French Open in 2017.