The Filipino rising star stopped in the top 4 of the women's singles at the 2025 Miami Tennis Championships and still received warm applause from the audience

On the 28th, Beijing time, the 19-year-old Filipino rising star Alexandra Eala fought hard for three sets before losing to the fourth seed Pegula of the American host 6:7 (3:7), 7:5, 3:6, and stopped in the women's singles semifinals of the 2025 Miami Tennis Championships.

Ayala

Ayala, who is currently ranked 140 in the world, relied on a wild card to participate in the game, but he broke the upset one after another at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida, knocking out former French Open champion Ostapenko, Keith, who won the Australian Open at the beginning of this year, and Swiatek before and after the ball, three Grand Slam winners, and this battle lasted for 2 hours and 26 minutes before the famous Pegula got out of trouble.

Although she failed to knock down the No. 3 Top 5 player, she could only sit back and watch Pegula compete for the title with Belarusian queen Sabalenka, and Ayyala, who played a strong competitive and confident trip, is still the first Filipino female player in history to reach the top 4 of the WTA 1000-point tournament, and is expected to jump to a career-high of around 75 seats in the latest ranking next week.

Trained at the Nadal Tennis Academy on the island of Mayuma since the age of 13 and won the junior singles title at the 2022 US Open, Ayala is now shining in Miami, making Spain's Nadal, who retired last year, proud, and congratulating the Asian protégé, who is also left-handed, on his efforts to achieve more.