Manila, April 10 -- Tennis player Alexandra Eala leads the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) monthly achievers for March.

The 19-year-old, playing as a wild card, made it to the semifinal round of the WTA1000 Miami Open in Florida in the United States.

On her way to the semis, the No. 140-ranked Filipina eliminated former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, 7-6-7-5, No. 5 and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round, 6-4, 6-2, and No. 2 and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 7-5.

Despite her 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-6 loss to fourth seed American Jessica Pegula in the semifinal round, Eala became the first Filipina in the Open era to beat a player in the ...