Filipina teen tennis sensation Alex Eala hit another milestone as she was given a wild card to the 2021 Miami Open qualifiers on Tuesday, March 16.

Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni made the announcement on the Rafael Nadal Academy social media channels, saying he’s very confident in Eala to do well in the tournament, based on a rough translation.

As of February 25, 2021, the acceptance list showed that the Miami Open will feature the world’s top tennis players like world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, world No. 2 and 2021 Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, and world No. 3 Simona Halep.

Eala, who reached another career-high ranking of world No. 736 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), has looked up to Halep since she started getting serious in tennis.  (FAST FACTS: Who is teen tennis sensation Alex Eala?)

Filipina-Australian Lizette Cabrera also got a chance to see action against Halep in the 2021 Australian Open first round, but the Romanian great overpowered her to advance to the second round.

Eala has had a stellar 2021 as she opened the year with a maiden pro title in the first leg of the Rafael Nadal Academy World Tennis Tour.

The 15-year-old Filipina was then on a roll with 4 consecutive tournaments to open the year and was able to qualify for $25,000 tournaments through the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior exempt program.

This is where the top-ranked juniors players are allotted a number of pro tournament spots within the year.

Since Eala finished with a year-end world No. 3 ranking in the juniors circuit, she is allowed to join up to 3 $25,000 and 2 $60,000 events this year.

In a $25,000 tournament, the Filipina tennis ace will be going up against players who are in the top 100 to 200 of Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.

After kicking off the 2020 season with her maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne, the rising tennis star became the Philippines’ first junior Grand Slam semifinalist in 35 years in the Roland Garros girls singles tournament. – Rappler.com