WTA Miami: Ella knocks out Swiatek to continue her dark horse journey

On March 26, local time, the 2025 WTA Miami station ended the two women's singles 1/4 finals in the lower half of the women's singles. Wildcard Filipino youngster Ella defeated No.2 seed Swiatek in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the semi-finals.

Ella

Photo: Visual China

Ella had only won two WTA Tour singles main draw matches before this tournament, and the No.140 ranking reached the semi-finals of her first WTA Tour tournament by beating two world top-five (No.2 Swiatek/No.5 Case) and three Grand Slam champions (Ostapenko/Case/Swiatek) at this tournament.

In this match, Ella's menacing return caused Swiatek to suffer repeated setbacks on serve, and the latter only managed to hold serve twice in the match. Although Swiatek won four games in a row and won the set on serve after being broken first in the second set, it was Ella who came back and won three games in a row to knock out the world No. 2. After scoring 390 ranking points after reaching the semi-finals this week, Ella's instant ranking has risen to No.75 and is set to break into the top 100 for the first time in her career next Monday.

Speaking after the match, Ella shared on her strong return against the three Grand Slam champions this week: "Hit the ball early and don't be afraid of mistakes, Swiatek served well, as did Keys and Ostapenko, even if I hit the frame or three meters out of bounds, it's normal, but I can't stop doing what I should do because I'm afraid of making mistakes. At the same time, Ella said that her biggest idol in tennis is Sharapova, and she also likes Li Na, Halep and Barty, and draws a lot of strength from these players.

As an outstanding graduate of Nadal's tennis school, Tony Nadal also appeared in Ella's player box in this game. "His arrival means a lot, and I know he flew here on purpose, which also shows that he and the online school have confidence in me." It is worth mentioning that Ella took a photo with Nadal and Swiatek when she graduated, and she said: "I knew that one day I would play her (Swiatek), but I didn't expect it to be this week!" ”

Pegula

Photo: Visual China

Ella's semi-final opponent will be fourth seed Pegula, who won 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 in three sets against former US Open champion Raducanu in the night semi-finals. Pegula will be the third current top 5 player Ella will face in this tournament, can she continue her journey as a dark horse? Let's wait and see. Tomorrow, the two Women's Singles semi-finals will be played on Centre Court, with Sabalenka's match against Paulini kicking off at 3:00 a.m. GMT tomorrow, and Ella's clash with Pegula kicking off at 8:30 a.m. GMT tomorrow.

WTA Miami Women's Singles Semifinals:

[1] Sabalenka vs Paulini[6]

[4] Pegula vs Ella[W]

In Women's Doubles, Jiang Xinyu/Wu Fangxian beat China's Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals and will face Andreeva/Schneider for the right to the final, while the silver medallists of the Paris Olympics defeated Alexandrieva/Stearns 5-7, 6-3, 10-4 in the quarter-finals.

(Text and editor: Dato)