Eala looks every bit the winner after semis exit in Miami Open
Alex Eala played her heart out but fell painstakingly short on Friday, her fairy-tale run in the Miami Open ending in the semifinals against the seasoned Jessica Pegula of the United States.
But the 19-year-old Filipino looked every inch the winner in the 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 classic that ended well past midnight, with Eala the one blowing kisses to fans and wearing the biggest smile as Philippine flags were waved in the stands and cheers bestowed on her.
“I literally gave everything I had,” Eala said after the match. “I did everything and I have no regrets. To have a week like this, the stars need to align.
“And they did this week,” she went on. “And hopefully I can keep that up, that is my goal now, to keep this up.”
Pegula, who advanced to battle Aryna Sabalenka for the title, was all praises.
“I don’t have to be the one to tell you that she will be a great tennis player,” Pegula said during her postmatch interview as Eala pushed her to the veritable limit even after the Filipino suffered a slight left ankle sprain early. “She played super aggressive and it was working.
The 31-year-old Pegula, who came back from 2-5 down in the first set, was so zapped out that she wrote “I’m tired” on the camera lens, a practice reserved for match winners.
Despite her exit, Eala is expected to climb to as high as 75th in the live world rankings, a spot no other Filipino tennis player has ever reached and one which many feel she can improve on after gaining entry into bigger events.
Eala not only won $332,160 for making the semifinals, but the points she gained after bundling out three Grand Slam champions that count world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland are enough to make sure that she gets main-draw passage in the major tournaments.
The Miami Open is a WTA 1000 event, just a notch below Wimbledon, the French, Australian and US Opens in terms of fields and prize money.
”Of course, I’m disappointed,’’ Eala later said. “But there’s so much positive around me and I don’t know how many times that has happened, so I’m just lucky to have been able to experience these two weeks.”
This is the longest, hardest run Eala has ever had in a top-tier event. And it evidently took a toll on her physically.
“I think I’m going to reset and build my body back up so that my next tournament, I can go all out and can give everything I have again,” she said. “It’s not easy because if it was, everybody would be doing it.” —WITH A REPORT FROM REUTERS
