The semi-finals bracket of the Miami Open is all set, and it features three top seeds and a remarkable Cinderella story. Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini are part of the Final Four. However, the biggest story of the tournament thus far is the incredible run from Alex Eala, who’s hailing from the Philippines.
Eala entered the tournament as a wild card, so the SBOTOP Miami Open 2025 odds weren’t in her favour. However, the 19-year-old strung together several notable wins against former Grand Slam winners, giving her all the confidence in the world.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka and Paolini made it this far for the first time in their careers and will look to make their trips count by trying to bring home the bacon. As for Pegula, this is her third trip to the semi-finals in South Beach.
Learn about the latest Miami Open 2025 updates by continuing to read below.
Eala’s Cinderella run continues
Alex Eala became the first Filipina WTA semi-finalist after beating world no. 2 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 last night in the Miami Open quarter-finals. She joins Justine Henin (2010) and Victoria Azarenka (2018) as the third wild card to reach the Final Four in South Beach.
“I’m in complete disbelief right now, I’m on cloud nine,” Eala said after the win. “I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage. My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can, because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win.”
The world no. 140, who previously beat Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys and progressed to the semis when Paula Badosa retired, experienced a grueling opening stretch against Swiatek. Five of the first six games of the match were service breaks. However, she was able to claim the opening set.
The 2022 champion seemingly regained her mojo when she fired a backhand winner to break back for 3-2, but Eala responded with eight consecutive points and five consecutive games to lead 2-0 in the second set.
The Polish international made it 4-2 after exploiting Eala’s miscues, but Swiatek couldn’t sustain her form. Swiatek also failed to serve the set out at 5-4 and unraveled in the final game of the match with three forehand errors. Eala’s pinch-me moment happened when the Filipina swatted another deep return to force Swiatek’s backhand over the baseline, and Eala couldn’t believe she pulled off the massive upset.
Eala’s victory is Swiatek’s third loss to a player ranked outside the Top 100 in a WTA main draw. Before Miami, the 19-year-old had never beaten a Top 40 opponent, and now she has two Top 10 wins. The road to the final only gets more difficult for Eala, as she will take on Jessica Pegula next. Pegula is fresh from a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 over a resurgent Emma Raducanu last night.
Sabalenka reaches first Miami Open semi-final
Aryna Sabalenka is through to the Miami Open semi-finals for the first time after securing a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Zheng Qinwen in what was a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open final.
After cruising through the opening set, Sabalenka was broken by Zheng three times to concede a 4-2 lead, as the Chinese international read the Belarusian’s serve well. However, Sabalenka regained her bearings by pulling off a massive escape from 0-40 down to make it 4-4 before taking charge for good with service returns to break for 6-5. The 26-year-old had a quick hold in the next game to secure the victory after one hour and 36 minutes.
Sabalenka’s solid return game was on full display, as she won 29 of Zheng’s 35 second-serve points for an 83-per cent success rate. She is now 6-0 against her Chinese counterpart in her WTA career.
Paolini makes her country proud with personal milestone
Aryna Sabalenka’s semi-final opponent is Jasmine Paolini, who is coming off a 6-3, 6-2 win over Magda Linette last Tuesday. Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the Miami Open Final Four. Before Paolini, Italian women went 0-for-6 in the quarter-finals, with Martina Trevisan in 2023 being the most recently beaten Miami quarter-finalist.
Paolini only needed 77 minutes to dispatch her Polish counterpart. The match was delayed for nearly three hours due to the heavy rain in the afternoon, but that didn’t cause any issues for the world no. 6. The 29-year-old was unbothered by Linette’s challenge, as she wiped out seven of the eight break points she faced.
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