Miami Open: Pegula ends Eala's dream run in semis, sets up final with Sabalenka

Miami, March 28 (IANS) Jessica Pegula has ended the Cinderella run of teenage wildcard Alexandra Eala of the Philippines with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 victory in the Miami Open semifinal on Friday.

From 5-2 down to start the match, Pegula turned around the opening set, crucially breaking serve at 5-3 after Eala double-faulted on set point, on the way to a 2-hour and 26-minute win.

No. 140-ranked Eala, whose run this fortnight has included wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys and No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek, became just the second wild card to defeat three or more Grand Slam champions in a single tour-level event, following Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon 2023. The 19-year-old also became the first player from the Philippines to reach a tour-level semifinal after her huge upset win over Swiatek on Thursday.

Pegula will next face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The American will now face the uphill challenge of winning only her third match against Sabalenka in eight previous attempts; her last win over the top seed came in Cancun during the 2023 WTA Finals.

Earlier, Sabalenka punched a ticket to her first Miami Open final with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 6 seed Jasmina Paolini. She has now won her last three meetings with the Italian, all without the loss of a set.

The three-time major champion has reached her 12th career WTA 1000 final.

I definitely say that this was one of the best matches in the season so far. I don't know. I was just so focused on myself, on the things I had to do today. It felt like everything was just, like, going smoothly my way. Yeah, super happy with the performance. I felt like I was in the zone," Sabalenka said post-match.

In the last 20 years, Sabalenka, who lost to Mirra Andreeva in the Paribas Open final, is the sixth player to reach the final at Indian Wells and Miami in the same season after Kim Clijsters (2005), Maria Sharapova (2006, 2012, 2013), Victoria Azarenka (2016), Iga Swiatek (2022) and Elena Rybakina (2023), WTA reports.

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