MIAMI, 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 over the former French Open champion 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.
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Her win also marked some major tennis history for her country, 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.
