Filipino teenager Ayala swept Swiatek and reached the semifinals of the 2025 Miami Championship

World No. 140 19-year-old Filipino Ayala even engulfed world No. 2 Poland's Swiatek. On the 27th, Beijing time, in the singles quarterfinals on the 9th day of the 2025 Women's Professional Tennis (WTA) Tour Miami Open held in Miami, Florida, USA, Ayala defeated Swiatek 2-0 (6-2, 7-5).

The 19-year-old Filipino teenager Aiyala who was happy after entering the semifinals

With that, Ayala became the first Filipino player to reach the semifinals of a WTA Tour event, and even if she loses in the semifinals, she will become the first Filipino player to reach the top 100 of the WTA Tour singles world rankings.

Ayala became the third wild card in the history of the Miami Open to reach the semi-finals of the women's singles, after Justin Henin (Belgium) in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) in 2018.

World No. 140 Ayala had a 3-15 record against the world's top 100 before the 1,000-level Miami Women's Open, and the highest player she has ever beaten is the world's 41st, but she has beaten former French Open champion Ostapenko, this year's Australian Open champion Keith and former and post-Swiatek to knock down three Grand Slam champions in succession, which surprised the outside world. This is the second time since Wimbledon 2023 that a wildcard player has beaten three Grand Slam champions in a row since Wimbledon 2023.

What the Ayala Round of 8 looks like

2022 US Open Junior Women's Singles Champion Ayala expressed her thoughts in a post-match interview: "I can't believe it, I'm very happy. "Just two years ago, Ayala and Swiatek posed for a photo at the Nadal Academy graduation ceremony, and this time [against Swiatek] scored a shocking victory," the WTA official website said. ”

Ayala had never played against a top 20 player in the world before the tournament, but in this tournament alone, Ayala sent home two of the "top 10 in the world".

Ayala currently has no experience in a singles final at a major tournament, having won bronze medals in women's singles and mixed doubles at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

It was the third time Swiatek has lost to a player outside the top 100 and her second in four years since losing in the third round of the tournament in 2021 to Anaconze (Croatia), who was ranked 338th in the world at the time.

The left-hander will face Jessica Pegula (world No. 4, USA) and Raducanu (No. 60, Great Britain) for a place in the Women's Singles final.