Alex Eala knows the insurmountable task that lies ahead prior to competing at the 2025 Miami Open, but her heart is ready.

After slaying one giant after another -- from world No. 75 Katie Volynets in the opening round, to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and reigning Australian Open winner Madison Keys in the succeeding matches -- the 19-year-old Filipina tennis sensation found herself facing her biggest battle to date: a quarterfinals meeting with five-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.

Match is scheduled on the wee hours of Thursday, March 27, at 1 a.m (Philippine time) at the Stadium -- her biggest stage to date.

To put the grand stage into perspective: playing next after Eala and Swiatek on the same court are men’s world No. 2 Alex Zverev against Arthur Fils. Later that night, world No. 4 Jessica Pegula meets 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, followed by multiple Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic against Sebastian Korda.

Eala had the opportunity of advancing to the Last 16 after her fourth-round rival, world No. 10 Paula Badosa withdrew due to lower back injury, but it still didn’t undermine her recent victories that made heads turn in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA1000) tournament. After all, she was the only relatively-unknown player in the quarter in the company of Grand Slam champions and Olympic medalists.

A wildcard in the tournament, Eala said where she is now is a big step towards where she wanted to be.

“I think every single player here has envisioned themselves as a successful tennis player,” Eala told reporters prior to her victory over Keys.

“This is the goal: to do well on the WTA level, to win (Grand) Slams. The end goal is to win Slams, to get the rankings,” she added.

Eala admitted making it this far in the tournament is a lot to take in.

“I think it’s important for me to take it step by step,” she said. “I’m super proud of what I was able to accomplish, and I know in my mind that I have a next match. But I neep to stop and I need to recognize that what I did (today) was really amazing.”

She added she’s maximizing all the opportunities given to her.

“There have been many times where I would have been able to play a big player like Madison or Ostapenko but I couldn’t, because I lost the round before. And now looking back, you connect the dots, going back, it’s because I wasn’t ready at that time,” she admitted.

“But now I have to believe that I’m ready because I’ve been given this opportunity and I’ve worked for this opportunity,” she added.

The quarterfinal match will be shown live on Blast TV app starting at 1 a.m. Thursday (March 27). Its linear simulcast of Premier Sports 2 on all platforms including cable; Direct to Home; Blast TV app and connected TV like Samsung TV plus.