MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Alexandra “Alex” Eala arrived at the Miami Open as a little-known 19-year-old Filipino wild card ranked No. 140 in the world. Her prize money so far this year totaled $40,480 and she had won only two WTA tour matches in her career.

Nobody would have predicted that over the span of a week she would take down not one, not two, but three Grand Slam champions and reach the Miami Open semifinals with a shocking 6-2, 7-5 win on Wednesday over world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former Miami winner.

It was just two years ago that Swiatek was a guest speaker during Eala’s graduation ceremony at Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain. They posed together for a photo.

“It’s crazy, because when I look at this picture, I’m the same girl,” Eala said after the match. “It’s super surreal to think that the circumstances have changed. I’m facing her on court, and I’m just so blessed to have that opportunity.”

There was an upset on the men’s side, as well, but not as unexpected. Top seed Alexander Zverev lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils, who was seeded No. 17 and overcame back pain to gut out the biggest win of his career and reach the quarterfinals.

When Swiatek’s final shot sailed long, Eala appeared to be in a state of shock as she looked around, stared at the scoreboard and received a rousing ovation from the crowd, which included her parents, who flew in Tuesday night from the Philippines, an uncle and cousin who flew in from Seattle, and Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle and former coach, who has worked with Eala at the academy.

Also in the audience was Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who is of Filipino descent and wanted to see Eala’s match.

“I couldn’t decide whether to cry because I was so in the moment and it’s hard to realize what just happened,” Eala said. “It’s hard to realize you won the match. I really tried to soak it all in because this has never happened to me before, and that’s why I was looking at the screen. I really wanted to keep that moment in my mind.”

Eala carried that composure into her post-match interview, where she handled every question with grace and confidence.

“I don’t have a lot of experience on the WTA Tour, that’s for sure, but I do have experience with compartmentalizing, with being professional and I have no hesitation to bring that part of me out when I’m on court and when I’m in a setting that calls for professionalism,” she said.

Eala opened the Miami Open with an upset of No. 73 Katie Voleynets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the Round of 128. But still, nobody paid much attention.

Then, she stunned No. 25 and 2017 French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory in the next round. She left the court in tears, and the buzz in tennis circles began.

Her unlikely run continued in the Round of 32 with a 6-4, 6-2 shocker of a win over No. 5 Madison Keys, the reigning Australian Open champion.

By the time she reached Stadium Court for Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Swiatek the word was out: Eala is the real deal.

She broke Swiatek’s serve in eight of 10 games.

Asked for her strategy, Eala said: “Take it early and not to be afraid to miss. She has a great serve. Madison had a great serve. Jelena had a great serve. So, it’s normal that I would miss some. I would frame some. I would miss three meters out. But then I cannot be afraid to continue to do what I know I have to do.”

Swiatek lamented that she did not play better, but gave credit to Eala.

“For sure, she went all in, she made these returns in and pretty long, and so it wasn’t easy to hit it back,” Swiatek said. “She was pretty loosened up and just went for it. Yeah, I mean, she felt the nice rhythm and it helped her. She was really aggressive and she kept her focus. And, I don’t know, some of these shots were pretty like out of nowhere.”

Eala began to play tennis at the age of 4 to bond with her grandfather and her older brother, Miko, who joined her at the Nadal Academy and played college tennis at Penn State.

The decision for the Eala siblings to leave the Philippines and go to Mallorca was a difficult one.

At age 12, she was noticed by scouts after an impressive showing at the 2018 Les Petit As. She got an offer to train at the Nadal Academy.

“It came as a shock because I was young. I was 13 when we made that decision,” Eala recalled. “The deal maker was my parents sent my brother (Miko) along with me, so I still had family close. They visited once in a while, but it was definitely a big decision for me, for us. But as soon as I heard [the offer], I jumped at the opportunity because I knew that I had to get out of the country eventually to improve.”

Eala is the daughter of Mike and Rizza Maniego-Eala, a former national swimming star who won a 1985 Southeast Asian Games bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

“My family should take credit for the foundation that they laid out before they sent me there. But of course, the academy was able to build on that foundation in such a way that I’m able to be where I am now,” she said.

Her goals are to win Grand Slam titles, reach No. 1 and raise the profile of tennis in the Philippines.

“The only thing I can do to give back to my country is to help inspire people to pick up a racket, to watch more tennis, watch more women’s tennis,” she said. “Tennis in the Philippines has so much potential. I feel that we have a lot of hidden talent and if we can have support and exposure to back it up, I think Philippine tennis can be a big thing.”

It already is at this Miami Open.

Like Eala, Fils toiled in obscurity for many years to reach this stage. His father, Jean-Philippe, was a basketball player and after dabbling in basketball and soccer, Fils chose tennis. He trained with his father on a makeshift court in a neighborhood south of Paris from age 6 to 13.

“We played tennis together on a terrible court, but it’s working,” Fils said, smiling. “We were bringing the net. There were no lines on the court. There was some grass on the court. The court was terrible, but it made me what I am now.”

Gael Monfils, who is still playing at age 38, has been influential in Fils’ career.

“He helped me a lot, on the tennis court, but also out of the court,” Fils said. “He helped teach me about how to be a man, how to grow up. He’s a very nice guy. When I was young I watched him on the court, how he was doing his unbelievable points. He’s such a legend for us in France. And now, to be on the tour with him, sharing the same tournaments, the locker room, it means a lot.”

Fils also reached the quarters at Indian Wells, Calif., and is the third man from France to reach the final eight at the “Sunshine Double” tournaments, joining Yannick Noah and Monfils. He will face Jakub Mensik in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Zverev heads home disappointed in his performance.

“I’ve been losing a lot of matches lately where I feel like I’m in control,” he said. “It was similar [Wednesday]. So, I have to look at myself more than anything else. I was up a break in the third, there’s no reason for me to lose that match. I’m losing a lot of matches from a winning position and I need to change that.”

Miami Open doubles results

Men: Julian Cash/Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain beat Yuki Bhambri (India)/Nuno Borges (Portugal) 7-6 (1), 3-6, 10-8. Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador)/Mate Pavic (Croatia) beat Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina 4-6, 7-5, 10-8. Nikola Mektic (Croatia)/Michael Venus (New Zealand) defeated Americans Christian Harrison/Evan King 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

Women: Russians Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider beat Aketerina Alexandrova/Peyton Stearns (USA) 5-7, 6-3, 10-4. Xinyu Jiang (China)/Fang-Hsien Wu (Taipei) d. China’s Xinyu Wang/Saisai Zheng 6-3, 6-4.

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