Who is Alexandra Eala? Rafa Nadal Academy graduate creating history at Miami Open for the Philippines

The 19-year-old, a former junior grand slam champion, has been making waves - and history - in Miami this week

Three and a half years on from Emma Raducanu’s stunning rise from qualifier to US Open champion, another teenager is having a fairytale run on American hard courts.

Alexandra Eala, a 19-year-old from the Philippines, will break into the world’s top 100 for the first time after an incredible tournament at the Miami Open.

Awarded a wildcard in Miami, she has more than made the most of it, beating three grand slam champions - new Australian Open champion Madison Keys, 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, and five-time major winner Iga Swiatek - en route to the semi-finals in Florida. And she has the chance to break even more new ground should she beat fourth seed Jessica Pegula later on Thursday to reach the final.

The teenager has already made history as the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final - and has become the first player ranked outside the top 100 to defeat Swiatek in four years.

Her brilliant run is not wholly out of nowhere, though, as she lifted the US Open girls’ singles title in 2022, becoming the first Filipina player to win a junior grand slam in singles, and reached a high of second in the junior rankings in 2020. A talented doubles player, she also lifted the French Open and Australian Open girls’ doubles trophies. But converting top form as a junior into success as a professional is easier said than done.

A graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Eala moved to Spain aged 13 to train, and had the backing of none other than Rafa’s uncle Toni Nadal in her box for her win over Swiatek. She only graduated from the academy in 2023 - with the Pole a guest of honour at the ceremony.

A lefty like 22-time major winner Nadal himself, Eala demonstrated both clean ball-striking and incredible composure to close out a runaway first set against the world No 2 and stick with her in a topsy-turvy second full of swings of momentum.

The Pole won three games in a row but an impassive-looking Eala fought back, staying cool and calm until victory was hers and only then shedding a few tears as the enormity of her achievement hit her.

Her cool head and ability to rush her opponent - standing far inside the baseline to receive second serves and taking time away from them - has served her well this week. Despite a fairly weak serve which is vulnerable to being broken, she has yet to drop a set, although her quarter-final match was a walkover as Paula Badosa withdrew with a back injury.

All the more impressively, until this week Eala had only made rare appearances in the main draw on the WTA Tour, mostly plying her trade on the second-tier ITF. She had only won one match at a WTA 1000 tournament before this, beating 41st-ranked Lesia Tsurenko in the first round of the Madrid Open last year.

Her four-match winning streak in Miami has equalled the best result by a wildcard at the tournament since the women’s draw was introduced in 1985: that of Justine Henin, who made the semis in 2010, and Victoria Azarenka in 2018. Not bad company for the world No 140, who will move up to around 75th in the world at the close of play in Miami.

Regardless of whether she can reach a maiden Tour final or not - and make more history in the process - it’s been a fairytale story for the teenager, and it looks like this magical run won’t be the last the tennis world sees of her.