No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula avoided being added to Alexandra Eala’s impressive Miami win list but afterward admitted that she had all but an easy job and had only words of praise for the rising Filipina after completing a 7-6 (3) 5-7 6-3 win.
A day after upsetting Iga Swiatek, the wildcard world No. 140 also pushed the fourth-seeded American to three sets. However, the 2024 US Open runner-up stood her ground and ultimately won 7-6 (3) 5-7 6-3 in just less than two and a half hours of play.
Pegula won the first set after a big comeback as she saved a set point on Eala’s serve when the 19-year-old was serving for the opener in the ninth game. Also, the American was 2-3 down in the tie-break before winning the next five points to seal the first set.
The Filipina may have missed out on a good chance to claim the opener but she made no such mistakes when serving for the second set at 6-5.
Just when it started to seem that Eala could pull off another upset and reach the Miami final, Pegula earned the first and lone break of the third set in the eighth game and sealed the deal in the following game.
For the Miami title, the 31-year-old American will take on top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.
Pegula’s words of praise for Eala
“I’m so tired, so, so tired. She’s really good. She’s a really good tennis player, goes for her shots, takes the ball early … competes really well, she’s beaten a lot of top players this week — I don’t think she needs me to tell her that she’s a great player, that we’re not going to see enough of her, we definitely are, and she proved that tonight,” the world No. 4 said of the 19-year-old.
Before losing to Pegula in the Miami semis, Eala beat Katie Volynets, Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Swiatek.
