World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland progressed towards her first title this year with a determined 7-6(5), 6-3 win against No. 22 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the Round of 16 at the Miami Open.

Swiatek spent 2 hours and 5 minutes overcoming former World No. 3 Svitolina, finalizing the quarterfinal participants at this year`s fourth WTA 1000 tournament shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Fast facts: Swiatek remains in contention for her second Miami Open title — she previously won in 2022 to achieve the Sunshine Double (winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same year). Stefanie Graf (twice), Kim Clijsters, and Victoria Azarenka are the only other women who have accomplished the Sunshine Double.

Despite not yet securing a title in 2025, Swiatek still leads the tour in main-draw match wins for the year. Her victory over Svitolina marked her 21st win of the season, surpassing Mirra Andreeva and Aryna Sabalenka, who each have 20 victories.

Swiatek`s record against Ukrainian players at Hologic WTA Tour events is now 13-1. Her sole WTA Tour-level defeat to a Ukrainian player was against Svitolina in the 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Match moments: Swiatek held a break advantage three times in the first set, but Svitolina responded by breaking back immediately each time, leading to a tiebreak to decide the set.

Svitolina rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the tiebreak, but Swiatek`s powerful forehands on the humid evening prevented her from falling behind. Swiatek earned her first set point at 6-5 with a crosscourt backhand winner, and secured the first set after a grueling 62 minutes with a final forehand winner.

In the second set, Swiatek had three break points to potentially establish a dominant 5-1 lead, but Svitolina fought them off and eventually leveled the score at 4-3. However, Swiatek broke again in a challenging game at 5-3, and then confidently served out the match. Swiatek concluded the match with 34 winners compared to Svitolina`s 22.

Wild card awaits: Swiatek`s quarterfinal opponent will be an unexpected one: 19-year-old wild card entrant Alexandra Eala from the Philippines.

Eala reached her first Hologic WTA Tour quarterfinal as her fourth-round opponent, No. 10 seed Paula Badosa, withdrew before their match due to a lower back injury.

Despite receiving a walkover, World No. 140 Eala should not be underestimated. Prior to Miami, Eala had a 0-4 record against Top 40 players, but she achieved a significant victory over No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko in the second round and an even more impressive win against No. 5 Madison Keys in the third round.

With these victories, Eala became the first Filipina woman in the Open Era to defeat Grand Slam singles champions at a WTA Tour event — and now she is set to compete against another Grand Slam champion in five-time major winner Swiatek.

More to come…