Eala stuns former world No. 5 Sara Errani
FILIPINO tennis ace Alex Eala advanced to THE fiNAL ROUND OF THE 2024 MIAMI OPEN QUALIfiERS AFTER SHOCKING ITALIAN SARA ERRANI 6-3, 6-1 AT THE HARD ROCK STADIUM IN FLORIDA ON MONDAY, MARCH 18 (MANILA TIME).
Eala banked on an impeccable service game in stunning the former world no. 5 and currently world no. 100 Errani as she moved one win away from entering the main draw.
The 18-year-old Eala scored four service aces, five service games won, and tallied 32 service points against the 36-year-old Errani.
In comparison, Errani, a nine-time singles champ and 29 doubles titlist that includes five Grand Slam doubles events, got zero aces, claimed one service game victory, and 12 service points only.
Ranked 176th in the world, Eala also broke Errani’s serve seven times while Errani could only break Eala’s service game three times.
Eala, a four-time champion in the professional circuit, said that this is the first time she has beaten a top 100 player and made the final qualifying round of a WTA 1000 event.
“A day of firsts at the Miami Open! First Top 100 win! First time through the final qualifying round of a WTA 1000 event! Lets’ keep pushing!” Eala wrote in a social media post on Monday.
Eala was scheduled to face world no. 121 Emiliana Arango of Colombia early Tuesday (Manila time) in the final round of the qualifiers, with the winner getting the golden chance to enter the main draw.
Iga Swiatek of Poland, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, and Coco Gauff of the United States of America, the world no. 1, 2, and 3, players, respectively, banner the 128-player field.
A three-time pro champion, Arango outlasted Kayla Day of the United States 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in the other bracket of the qualifiers.