Iga Swiatek addresses Alexandra Eala's 'intentions' after being shockingly sent packing in Miami Open heartbreak
Iga Swiatek suffered one of the worst defeats of her career, losing to Alexandra Eala at the 2025 Miami Open. She addressed Eala’s "intentional" style, noting that she didn’t expect her to play the way she did in the straight-sets defeat.
Swiatek, the second seed, was beaten by No. 140-ranked Alexandra Eala in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Miami on Wednesday, March 26. Eala, who was granted a wild card entry to the tournament, produced a clinical performance against the 2022 champion to dismiss her with a 6-2, 7-5 scoreline in one hour and 41 minutes.
Iga Swiatek was visibly frustrated by her opponent’s aggressive display and her lack thereof during the match, as she couldn’t find the necessary solutions. Addressing the 19-year-old lefty’s unexpected strategy, she said:
"For sure, I didn’t know that she was going to play that flat," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference.
The 23-year-old indicated that although some of Alexandra Eala’s shots seemed erratic, she was playing with “intention.”
"Besides that, she was really aggressive and she kept her focus. Some of these shots were pretty like out of nowhere but still I could see that clearly, she had intentions to go forward and to push, so it worked for her today, for sure."
This was Swiatek’s sixth loss of 2025 in as many tournaments played. The Pole has yet to make the title clash of any event since her hat-trick at Roland Garros last year.
Iga Swiatek on Miami Open loss: "Alexandra Eala was pretty loosened up"
In the aforementioned press conference at the Miami Open, Iga Swiatek noted that Alexandra Eala executed her returns particularly well, leaving her unprepared for the rally.
"I think she just returned well, yeah, I wasn’t ready for the next ball," she said.
The five-time Grand Slam champion also claimed that Eala was at ease with her game and went all in.
"She went all in and she made these returns in and pretty long, so it wasn’t easy to hit it back. She was pretty loosened up and just went for it."
With the win against Iga Swiatek, Alexandra Eala, who graduated from Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, completed a hat trick of upsets against Grand Slam champions, having crushed Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(2), 7-5 in the second round and Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2 in the third round. In her opening match, she beat Katie Volynets 6-3, 7-6(3). Meanwhile, Paula Badosa handed her a walkover in the fourth round.
The Filipina faces either Emma Raducanu or Jessica Pegula for a spot in her first-ever WTA 1000 final at the Miami Open.