Alex Eala made heads turn at the 2025 Miami Open after stunning higher-ranked Katie Volynets, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in the opening round on Wednesday, March 19 (early Thursday, Philippine time) in Florida.

The 19-year-old Eala, who earned one of the precious seven wildcard berths in this Women’s Tennis Association (WTA1000) event, needed almost two hours in surviving her world No. 73 rival including saving two break points.

It was a monumental win for the world ranked No. 140 Eala, who earned her first major WTA victory while also triumphing for the first time in the main draw round of the tournament.

Eala, however, is expected to have her hands full in her second round match as she arranges a meeting with 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who earned an opening round bye.

Though more of a doubles specialist with her ranking at No. 5, the 27-year-old Ostepenko also boasts of a singles ranking at No. 25 in the world. Last February, she made it to the finals of the WTA Qatar Open, beating fancied rivals like Jasmine Paolini, Ons Jabeur and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek before bowing to American Amanda Anisimova.