Alexandra Eala has withdrawn from next month’s Cincinnati Open with a shoulder injury.
The rising Filipina star, just 20 years old, started the season playing WTA125 and ITF W75/W100 tournaments before completely taking the tennis world by storm in March. At the WTA 1000 Miami Open presented by Itaú, she stormed through to the semifinals without dropping a set — picking up wins over Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek, as well as Paula Badosa — before falling to Jessica Pegula in a highly competitive three-set thriller.
“I’m in complete disbelief right now,” a breathless Eala, who had graduated from the Rafa Nadal Academy less than two years earlier, said in her on-court interview after stunning Swiatek in straight sets to reach the semifinals. “I’m on cloud nine.”
After her breakthrough in South Florida, the former US Open girls’ singles champion proved her all-surface prowess by coming through qualifying to reach the final in Eastbourne, which she lost to Maya Joint in another heartbreaking three-setter.
It’s been a historic season for the fan favorite, who earlier in the year became the first Filipino to reach the Top 100 in the PIF WTA Rankings. Currently No. 65 in the world, Eala reached a career high of No. 56 at the end of June.
It was a disappointing showing for Eala earlier this week at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal. After taking the first set from Marketa Vondrousova in her first-round match, she dropped the next two fairly uncompetitively to bow out of the tournament.
Mexico’s Renata Zarazua will replace Eala in the main draw.
The Cincinnati Open, the final WTA 1000 event before the final Grand Slam of the season in New York, kicks off on August 7 and will run through August 18. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff lead the loaded field of the world’s top players, and 45-year-old Venus Williams has received a wild card into the main draw.