MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., March 26 (UPI) -- Alexandra Eala expressed utter shock as she watched Iga Swiatek's final return go long, sealing an upset victory over the No. 2 women's tennis player in the world Friday in a Miami Open quarterfinal.
The 19-year-old needed just 69 minutes to dispatch her Polish foe at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Eala, ranked No. 140, converted 8 of 10 break point opportunities in the 6-2, 7-5 victory.
"My coach told me to run, to go for every ball to take all the opportunities I can because a five-time Grand Slam champion is not going to give you the win," Eala said.
The win gave Eala her third victory over a former Grand Slam champion in six days, with previous triumphs over No. 5 Madison Keys of the United States and No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia -- and secured a semifinal matchup with No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States or No. 60 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain. She will be the first player from the Philippines to reach a tour-level semifinal.
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"I'm so happy and blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage," Eala said.
Swiatek broke Eala's opening serve to win the first game of the match. Eala responded by breaking all of Swiatek's serves in the first set. She held to win two of her final three service games.
Eala held again to start the second set. She then broke Swiatek's serve for a fifth-consecutive time.
But Swiatek rallied, breaking Eala twice to earn a 4-2 lead in the second set.
Eala held in the seventh game and broke Swiatek in the eighth to tie the set at 4-4. Swiatek broke Eala in the ninth game to regain the lead, but did not win another game.
Eala broke Swiatek in the 10th game and held in the 11th. She then broke Swiatek for a final time for match point, watching her last return cruise past the baseline.
Raducanu will take on Pegula in another women's quarterfinal Wednesday night in Miami Gardens. The winner of that match will meet Eala on Thursday one of two semifinals. No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the other semifinal.
