Philippines teen stuns World No. 2 Iga Swiatek to reach Miami Open semis

19-year-old wildcard Alexandra Eala from the Philippines defeated world number two Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 on Wednesday, securing her place in the semi-finals in a shocking upset at the Miami Open.

Ranked 140th in the world, Eala made history as the first woman from her country to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event. She capitalised on an uncharacteristically poor performance from Swiatek, maintaining her composure even after trailing 4-2 in the second set.

Eala broke Swiatek's serve for the eighth and final time when the Polish star was trying to stay in the match at 6-5. Overwhelmed with emotion, Eala could hardly believe her victory.

"I'm just in disbelief right now. It's so surreal," she said in her post-match interview.

"I'm so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage," added Eala, who has now defeated three Grand Slam champions on her way to the semi-finals. Before beating four-time French Open winner Swiatek, she also overcame Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys.

Eala's journey to success began at the age of 13 when she moved to Spain to train at Rafael Nadal's academy in Mallorca. She was supported courtside by Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and former coach.

"It meant a lot that he showed up here. It showed the confidence he had in me and the confidence the academy had in me," she said.

Eala will now face the winner of the quarter-final clash between Britain's Emma Raducanu and American Jessica Pegula.

"Just because I won this match or the one before doesn't make the next one any less tough. If anything, it will be even tougher, so it will take everything I have," she said.

Meanwhile, Swiatek admitted she wasn’t at her best and is now turning her focus to the clay court season.

"I'm sure I wasn't playing my best game. My forehand collapsed a little, so it wasn't comfortable, and Alexandra took advantage of that and pushed me. She definitely deserved to win this match," Swiatek said.

"I don't want to dwell on this loss too much. It's important to learn from it, but I'm looking forward to playing on clay," she added.