Alexandra Eala reflects on biggest win of career over Iga Swiatek in Miami Open quarterfinals

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Alexandra Eala made all kinds of history with her breakthrough run at the Miami Open over the last two weeks, but even though the tournament is now over, she’s not done breaking records.

After reaching the semifinals of the WTA 1000-level tournament, she rises from No. 140 to No. 75 on the new WTA rankings today, soaring past her previous career-high of No. 134 to make her Top 100 debut.

And with that, she becomes the first woman from the Philippines ever to break into the Top 100, since WTA rankings began in 1975.

At 19, she’s the second-highest-ranked teenager on the current WTA rankings, trailing only 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who’s No. 7.

And there’s no reason the Filipina trailblazer can’t keep blazing her trail up the rankings throughout the year—between now and the end of the year last year she only had one tour-level win, a first-round win over Lesia Tsurenko in Madrid. She has one ITF title to defend in July.

Eala is almost guaranteed to play in the first Grand Slam main draw of her career at Roland Garros.

Eala is almost guaranteed to play in the first Grand Slam main draw of her career at Roland Garros.

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A bit further up on the WTA rankings, former No. 10 Emma Raducanu makes her return to the Top 50, rising from No. 60 to No. 48 after reaching the first WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career in Miami.

The last time the Brit was in the Top 50 was at the 2022 US Open, when she was No. 11—after falling in the first round as defending champion she dropped to No. 83, and even fell out of the Top 300 after an injury-marred 2023 season. But she returned to the Top 100 in 2024.

And now, after her run in Miami, she's back in the Top 50.

Over on the ATP rankings, a few rising stars make breakthroughs, starting with Arthur Fils, who rises from No. 18 to No. 15—his Top 15 debut—after reaching the quarterfinals in Miami. He actually became just the third Frenchman ever to reach the quarterfinals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same season, after Yannick Noah and Gael Monfils.

Czech teenager Jakub Mensik also makes a huge move up the rankings, rising from No. 54 to No. 24, his simultaneous Top 40 and Top 30 debuts, after capturing the first Masters 1000 title of his career, capping it off with a historic straight-set victory over Novak Djokovic.

And a few more debuts: Belgium’s Zizou Bergs rises from No. 51 to No. 50, his Top 50 debut, after reaching the third round in Miami, also getting the first Top 10 win of his career against Andrey Rublev along the way; and the Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong moves up from No. 105 to No. 98, his Top 100 debut, after a solid two weeks of Challengers on clay in Spain during Miami, reaching a final and a semifinal.

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And last but not least, some feel-good news, as two of Croatia’s best—Marin Cilic and Borna Coric—both move back up the rankings.

Cilic jumps 25 spots from No. 143 to No. 118 after winning the Challenger in Girona, Spain, his first Challenger title since 2007. The former No. 3 and 2014 US Open champion is working his way back up the rankings after having undergone right knee surgery last May.

And Coric rises from No. 112 to No. 96, his first time in the Top 100 since January—though he fell in the second round at a Challenger in Naples, Italy last week, he won a Challenger during the first week of Miami in Zadar, Croatia. That was actually his third Challenger title in a row, having lifted trophies during two of the three previous weeks.

Coric is a former No. 12 and the 2022 Cincinnati champion.