MIAMI, Fla. — Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eala booked her spot in the Round of 16 at the WTA 1000 Miami Open on Sunday, rallying past Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 7-6 (2) in a thrilling match.
Eala, ranked No. 29 in the world, trailed 5-4 in the second set before forcing a tiebreak, which she dominated 6-1 to secure the victory.
“I think I just told myself to be brave, do whatever I could,” Eala said after the match. “I can’t control how she was playing. She, I think, upped her game in the second, so, I tried to go for my shots, and they were effective luckily.”
Linette had entered the match on a high note, having upset No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round. But Eala’s aggressive play in the decisive tiebreak proved too much for her opponent.
The victory marked Eala’s second consecutive win at the Miami tournament. On Friday, she defeated Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.
Eala will next face Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the Round of 16. Muchova advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Britain’s Katie Boulter. The 5-foot-11 Muchova won the Doha Open in Qatar last month, defeating Canada’s Victoria Vanessa Mboko 6-4, 7-5.
The 23-year-old Eala, a graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy, has been making waves on the professional tennis circuit. She made history at the 2025 Miami Open as the first Filipino to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal, though she ultimately fell to American Jessica Pegula, the world’s No. 4 player, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-6.
Eala also captured the singles gold medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, ending a 26-year drought in the event. The last Filipino to win the title was Maricris Fernandez in 1999.
