A year removed from her Cinderella run to the semis, Alex Eala returns to the Miami Open as a seeded player.
The Miami Open is set to be a full circle moment for Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala as she is expected to enter the tournament as the 32-seed, earning her a bye for the first round of the competition beginning next week.
Eala, expected to breach the Top 30 in the WTA rankings, was announced as the last seeded player in the WTA 1000 tournament.
This means that she will not be playing in the first round and rather moving forward automatically to the Round of 64 alongside the other seeded players.
Eala's run in the 2025 Miami Open is of note as it marked a pivotal moment in the young Filipina's career.
As a wild card entrant, Eala reached the semifinals where Jessica Pegula needed three sets to dispose of the up-and-coming Pinay.
The dream run featured Eala's biggest career wins to date, which included wins over then-Top 5 players Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek.
Eala's unlikely campaign catapulted her from WTA No. 140 to the Top 75 in a matter of a week.
The big leap helped her clinch bigger and better opportunities, including main draw invites to the Grand Slams.
Since then, Eala has made breakthrough after breakthrough -- highlighted by her Grand Slam main draw singles win in the US Open later that year.
Eala is also coming off of a stellar start to her Sunshine Swing campaign, where she reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells before falling to Linda Noskova in a lopsided match, 6-2, 6-0.
Despite the exit, she was able to get momentum from a win over World No. 4 Coco Gauff who was forced to retire in the second set of their third round match, 6-2, 2-0.
Eala recently spoke about her mindset heading into the tournament.
[READ: Alex Eala shrugs off pressure ahead of Miami Open return]
The main draw of the Miami Open begins on Tuesday, March 17.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion in the tournament.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.