Philippine wildcard Eala stuns Swiatek to reach semis, Raducanu out as Pegula books last four berth

MIAMI: Philippine wildcard Alexandra Eala pulled off the biggest win of her young career with a 6-27-5 upset of Iga Swiatek at the Miami Open on Wednesday while Emma Raducanu's surprise run ended with a 6-46-7(3) 6-2 quarter-final loss to Jessica Pegula.

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With the latter contest finishing close to 11.30 p.m., the men's quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Sebastian Korda was pushed to next day under ATP rules aimed at avoiding matches dragging on into the early hours of the morning.

Explosive 19-year-old Eala showed no signs of being intimidated playing against one of her idols and was instead a picture of poise as she dismantled world number two Swiatek's serve early on and never looked back.

"I don't know what to say, I mean, complete just disbelief right now and I am on cloud nine," Eala said.

"It's forever in my heart."

Swiatek, playing the match with added security after being verbally abused by a spectator at the weekend, failed to hold serve throughout the first set, while Eala was swing-ing freely as she unleashed winners from all over the court.

Five-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek hit a staggering 19 unforced errors in the opening set and then received some advice from her coach before briefly leaving the court.